#it's difficult to practise with school stealing your time

[emrys-rusts]

Finished lineart of my two of hearts sketch :)

Might redesign jonny a bit, I don't think I captured him perfectly yet...

[aristaneptune]

Arista Neptune is live! React content, rating your dating profile, league of legends later?

Arista Neptune, 25yo, she/her. Local Lesbian crystal mommy~*Scorpio Sun, Pisces Moon, Aquarius Rising*~E-sports queen streaming my music, gaming, roleplaying, cosplaying, and just chatting nearly everyday, join the party! :* All my fans are cuties xoxoxo

Bio: Growing up within the bundle of Neptune sisters, Arista was a bubbly and outgoing child who was prone to losing herself within her daydreams. After her mother’s sudden death, however, Arista slowly became more guarded. With one less parent it was easy to get lost in the noise of having so many siblings, and Arista had to learn to cope with sometimes not getting attention at all. At first it caused her to argue with her sisters,only for that mellow out as she matured–except for the occasional disagreement. Arista ended up going to university for her music, and eventually graduated with high honors in her field.  There was only one problem. Music was…..well…all of her sisters were into music, and her oldest sister was already a professional. She’d still be sharing the spotlight at best, at worst Arista feared it would look like she was stealing her sister’s thing. So shortly before she graduated, her friends convinced her to try something different-streaming online. Arista had never considered it before, but as her friends hyped her up, she got excited, and she started a small channel where she streamed herself playing games sometimes, or practising her music to anyone who listened. At first, that meant nearly no one. However Arista, for the first time felt the beginnings of having her own space. After a few years however, it stopped being “no one” watching. It became a few hundreds, then a few thousands, then a few tens of thousands, then over one hundred thousand on occasion. Yet around Redwood, she never changed. In fact, Arista downplayed it. Partially because of the worry that like always, her career choice would be seen as weird or immature, and she was tired of being the immature, silly one. Partially because she liked having something of a double life, one in which she could go all out, and one where she could relax and be all vibes. Truth is, Arista, deep down, often finds herself just as insecure as she’s always been, especially in a town where everyone knows her family. She’d like to learn to be as brave as she is online in person, and to be seen as someone who is just as cool as she thinks all of her sisters are.

Official Bio: Additional:

Arista is a lesbian and uses she/her pronouns

Arista is very much into mysticism; She follows horoscopes and has a passion for tarot cards and crystals. Also known to make great meditation jars and altars.

Arista has her own apartment with a great streaming set up, but also has a small studio meant for playing and recording professional grade music, that anyone in Redwood can use as long as they’ve asked so she can prepare for them.

Arista plays DnD with Morgan, Jim, and the rest of that table.Arista has two pet ferrets.Arista has ADHD, which made school especially difficult for her.

Arista is great with kids from growing up with so many sisters, and she babysat as a job throughout high school and university, in addition to helping coach colorguard/winter guard grade school teams, and teaching at community music camps.She is always down to babysit for others, and will do it for free.

Arista has pet ferrets! Two of them.

Personality:

Arista is very hippy dippy, and often has a camera with her, although not always on. She is friendly and bubbly, if not spacey. She has no problem approaching others first for small talk, but is a lot more insecure when it comes to getting to know her personally. She wants to be seen as cool, pretty, and fun, and avoids situations or conversations where she might not come off like such- unless she absolutely can’t. She is non judgemental and loves to have fun, and will pull you out onto the dance floor.

Wanted Connections:

-Friends

-A best friend

-Roommates

-Girlfriend

-Her sisters

-”Friend” who is just using her to try to launch their own career

-High school friend she was a total nerd with.

-Someone who bullied her in high school

-Someone who is a huge fan of her streams

-Someone who helps her with her streams (maybe streams themselves and guests, someone who helps her get set up and do events, someone who works as her mod/editor, someone who plays games with her)

-Someone to be friends with who is so disconnected from online and social media, and is also new enough to town where they didn’t grow up with the Neptunes, so Arista truly has no expectations when she meets them/spends time with them.

-Former college roommate (good or bad)

Wanted Connections/Plots:

-Your Muse knew you recognized Arista from somewhere, and catches her off guard when you come up to her to say hi and take a selfie. Arista does your muse one better, and asks you to join her for smoothies.

-Your muse is superstitious, and is constantly looking for signs of what to do or what might be incoming. Your muse goes to Arista at least weekly for tarot readings and horoscope predictions.

-Or, Your muse is very much not superstitious. Tarot, Horoscopes, auras, it’s all nonsense. You don’t understand why she’s so into it, or why others around town humor it. Your muse starts going to her for readings with the intent to prove that it is all nonsense--except stuff that can vaguely be connected to what she read, keeps happening.

-Your muse bullied Arista in high school when they found out about her more nerdy interests. You both haven’t talked since then. Perhaps your muse feels guilty now, and wants to apologize, but they know it’s going to take more than an ‘I’m sorry’, or perhaps they still can’t stand her and make it a point to talk to her with the intent to embarrass her.

-Your muse and Arista are best friends, either from childhood, or college. You hang out all of the time and tell each other everything. You help encourage each other, and try to set each other up with anything the other needs- success, romance, that thing they’ve been eyeing in the store for months, whatever it is, you’ll both help each other with it.

-Your muse needs a recording studio for their work, be it music, voice acting, etc. Arista lets your muse use hers. Your muse appreciates that Arista is low key and lets you show up at odd hours as long as you text her first- and she seems to be up 24/7 and always responds promptly. She’ll also always have the coffee and tea maker there warmed up for you by the time you get there. Your muse and Arista may have not been close at first, but you’re only a few 3am lattes away from needing to admit you’re friends.

-Arista is still pretty awkward about her sexuality, and worries it others her too much. Your muse knows and has been helping her become more confident, and perhaps has started trying to set her up with other LGBTQ+ people around town, for friends or dates.

-Your muse knows Arista is a mini internet celeb, with a ton of money, followers, and brands that send her cool things all the time. Your muse wants that for themselves, and has started going out of their way to befriend her with selfish goals in mind.

-Arista finds your muse alone somewhere after they had a very bad day, and listens to them for a while and tries to cheer them up and give them advice.

-Your muse and Arista have a jam session and play and write some music together.

Taken Connections:

-Sisters: @attinaneptune​ and @arianaxneptune​

-Crush/Flirting With/Has a Date with: @ritasaysrelax​

[violettelueur]

— FUSHIGURO MEGUMI || S/O THAT SKATEBOARDS

↳ featuring : fushiguro megumi  from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : grammar issues

↳ form : headcanons

↳ published : 17 february

↳ pronouns : non specified in headcanon

↳ request : may i request megumi with a s/o that loves skateboarding and is really good at it, but gets injured freuquently due to the tricks they do?

↳ barista’s notes : you guys know i was listening to sk8 to infinity’s opening and ending when i was typing this out! they both contrast each other so well from upbeat to calm beachy vibes ʕ≧ᴥ≦ʔ i just love it! other than that, i hope you enjoy your cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and please come again later on!

When Fushiguro discovers that you skateboard, he finds it interesting since you probably never really skated around the area when he was around - you and him were probably in your dorm room together and he just saw it from the corner of his eye.

He can tell you really like to skateboarding since you seem to enjoy telling the feeling you get when you skate to him as well as the stories you have for him.

There are a few funny ones that you have before you became a sorcerer like how your friend accidentally skated too fast and tripped into a fountain or how you and your friends had to skate away from security since you were skating in a prohibited area.

So once he discovers this little talent of yours, he finally notices you skating around the school premises and finally knows why you are the first one to get to class when he knows you left your dorm room last.

This isn’t skateboarding related, but when you both ice skate for the first time on a date, he discovers that you really like to move around and feel the breeze and probably understands why when he gets the hang of it - the breeze is really therapeutic.

However, the downside to this hobby of yours is when you come back to him injured - and he does worry that it was a curse - but once you establish that it was because you were practising a new trick, he will look at you with a confused face.

Fushiguro is the one that treats your wounds and probably purchases a lot of bandages and plasters to make up for his and your injuries.

He will scold you about is not being careful, but you’ll always remind him that with skateboarding, you can’t be careful when it comes to practice, but in serious situations, you can minimize the damages.

When you finally show him you skate, he can’t help but be amazed at how easy you make it look when in reality, he knows how hard it is to even start since the board will move constantly - there are no breaks.

When you do a few tricks here and there, Fushiguro will look at you in awe, you can even see a few sparks in his eyes when he sees you doing something that on the low, sort of defines gravity for a second.

If you ever teach him how to skate, he will wonder how you even do it in the first place since it’s difficult to even stay still on the board that has wheels and no brakes.

If you ever change the design of your board, you’ll probably ask Fushiguro if he wants in on the design as well - maybe another drawing/painting day for you both.

In conclusion, Fushiguro is amazed and proud that you are able to do something that others might fear doing, he is your number one supporter in the background. However, he is also wary of the injuries you get when trying something new - you both probably have days where you are sitting on the bathroom counter and he is in-between your legs, both of you covered in plasters and bandages.

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[anxiouslyfred]

Edited Lesson Plans

for @dukexietyweek‘s day 5 prompt ‘School’

Summary: The science experiments Remus includes in his lessons baffle most of the staff for how he’s able to get them past health and safety concerns. Virgil is just glad he hasn’t been questioned over stealing the plans to add precautions to them yet.

Warnings: elusions to chemical accidents, vauge mentions of bad lab safety, explosion mentions

/\/\/\

“Again? He's managed to get these major experiments in his work plan again?”

“Who the hell is he bribing to be allowed to do this stuff? Even I couldn't get a risk assessment thorough enough to do these things!”

“Remus has to be like dating the headmasters daughter. That's the only way Mr stick-up-his-arse Read would be letting him do these experiments. They're just too dangerous.”

“I think that's why Remus is doing them. Have you seen him mope when one is rejected?”

The talk in the staff room had once again returned to Mr Remus Cethalapod as the lessons plans and class schedules were shared among the teams, including the weeks where teachers should expect delays from students leaving specific classes. Virgil was sat working on fine tuning his own quietly, listening in, but never expected to join in with their talk.

That was the other certainty he knew the other teachers and faculty held, Remus would include science experiments no sane person would demonstrate to their teenage students, and Virgil would only speak up about issues with lesson plans if he saw classes overlapping with his that could be risky. The only exception to his demands to see the risk assessments were Remus's despite those classes following or precluding his own most often.

He smirked, making a few quick notes on a plan for the woodworking module. If the class picked up the skills in a different time period to expected a few classes might be moved around which would help with when Remus had chosen one of the few repeated experiments to be done.

“What is up, Bitches! Have I convinced any of you to give up repeating the same old plans and get something interesting in those classes?” Remus yelled, barging in to check the schedules for next semester.

“Why would we need to include something interesting when your lesson plans could well blow up the school?” Nate scoffed, shaking his head, and clearly unhappy that his classroom designation for the next semester was beside Remus's.

Virgil was tempted to speak up at that, defend his risk assessments except he wouldn't even acknowledge to Remus that he'd regularly steal the other teacher's lesson plans to make sure they're safe, or at a minimum have all possible and extremely necessary safety measures in place. He was certain that his input was known about though.

Remus just beamed at the veiled criticism. “My fairy health and safety agent says every class I do is safe as long as I follow the purple ink. Can you say the same?”

“You're creating fantasy creatures? You're meant to be a science teacher!” Nate's protesting was cut off as the first school bus arrived and everyone refocused back on this semester rather than the next.

/VR\

Teaching Engineering and Resistant materials had always been Virgil's main interest, and a lot of that relied on science not only to improve and progress but to remain safe for the people who practised it. Getting a few journals on Chemistry added to his reading list wasn't too difficult to do after Virgil first met Remus.

He'd loved the passion and energy when he'd heard Mr Cethalapod teaching during a free period in the first year they'd worked together at the school. Discovering that the class had been mixing dangerous chemicals without enough safety precautions however had him basically panicking for 20 minutes before he forced himself calm if only to focus on his next class and the teenagers about to be playing with fire as much as soldering some metal together could be called that.

After that day Virgil would steal Remus's lesson plans, originally just to satisfy himself that they wouldn't be putting students or teacher in danger, but all too soon he was adding sheets with safety instructions and getting risk assessments filled out. Enough of the things he did could cross over, although temperatures in chemistry got higher than they ever would in resistant materials and the chemical element rarely impacted engineering to the degree it would of course inspire a chemistry class.

Remus even seemed to accommodate his lesson plans getting stolen, once when they were first written, once soon before the start of each subject and finally the week before he'd teach the class. When Virgil had first realised that pattern had been deliberately made he tried to hide more, put the things back exactly as he'd found them, terrified there'd be some consequence for his interfering. Remus had after all once made a class where a parent had complained over his teaching style only read their books for a term, conducting the experiments he'd planned to show or have them do silently at the front of class, and another time brought in a mobile lab so he could walk his class around behind the PE class after the teachers were disparaging his class loudly at the end of the day.

Instead nothing had happened, except occasionally his additions would have more corrections added. Of course the corrections were usually only on the severity of the injuries that could occur if one of the safety risks wasn't followed, but it was an acceptance of his guidelines regardless. Even Virgil's students had mentioned feeling calmer and safer during experiments with Remus bringing new precautions in, all of which had been his own additions.

Honestly, being called a 'fairy health and safety agent' had Virgil snickering for the rest of his day. He had the powers of magic and way too much fear on his side and with it would save the school from dangerous experiments. That sounded like a lot more fun than screaming and lecturing the headmaster whenever one of the other teachers blatantly failed to follow even the basic health and safety precautions.

When Virgil gets the lesson plans at the end of that week a tiny part of him was tempted to put fairy wings on of something while taking them. He wouldn't do that for fear of having to explain why if another teacher spotted him, but it was a thought.

A thought that vanished along with everything else that night when in green highlighter, covering the last page of lesson plans Remus had scrawled

Dear H&S Fairy, I'll clap all the times I can to make sure you exist if only you come with me on a date next Friday. Love and other Goopy Stuffs, Remus xoxoxo

Please, Virgil could only pray, please say Remus actually had figured out he was the one doing these plans, because he wanted, but could not face turning up only to find out Remus thought it was some other teacher or administrator.

Before he could worry about that any further he scribbled a reply just underneath the note, signed with a doodle of a fairy.

/VR\

Now it wasn't that Remus had forgotten asking the Engineering teacher out on his lesson plans, or that he hadn't seen the response once they were returned to his desk. It's that he absolutely hated planning ahead any more than was necessary and his dreams were just of inspiration striking for the perfect date the minute they met up at his car.

Only as he was setting out the lesson and getting the students ready to carry it out did he finally think that someone so concerned with safety they'd steal his lesson plans might actually feel better if he had a plan in place. Remus couldn't exactly create a plan while teaching though, so it really would just be up to the evening and the thoughts it might bring to do.

He couldn't imagine a date being as full of risk as playing with low level acids though.

Virgil was already leant against Remus's car by the time he reached it and all Remus could do was beam. “I actually got it right! Damn, and Mr Read always says I can't figure out anything except explosions.”

“Glad to be who you wanted, should I even ask if you have a plan for tonight or just accept you're making this up as we go along?” Virgil snorted, pushing himself up as Remus rounded the car.

“I can at least guarantee lower chances of injury than I might find if you weren't with me.” Remus countered.

Perhaps they'd only really communicated via lesson plans and occasionally crossing paths around the school up until this point, but Remus couldn't wait to see where this first date might take them.

[pocket-luv101]

To Woo An Angel || Chapter 1

Fandom: Servamp Ship: KuroMahi, LawLicht Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht

Summary: Hyde wants to help Kuro get a date with Mahiru. He learns that Mahiru’s protective brother stops him from dating. To help his brother, Hyde creates a plan to date Licht. He reasoned that Licht would be less protective of his brother after he starts dating. He didn’t expect to fall in love with him. (LawLicht, Ten Things I Hate About You AU)

(Ch.1) || Ch.2 || Ch.3

“Thank you for tutoring me in English, Kuro. It’s my worst subject and the midterm is coming up.” Mahiru sat across from Kuro in the library. “I was assigned to show you around the school but it looks like you’re the one who’s helping me instead. You’re from London, right? You speak Japanese very well but you can ask me if you need anything. How are you adjusting to Japan?”

“Could be worse.” Kuro shrugged. He had moved halfway around the world and the change would’ve been more difficult if it wasn’t for Mahiru. They shared a lot of classes and Mahiru helped him catch up with the courses. He wanted to repay him for his kindness so he offered to tutor him. “Tokyo is different from London but I think I can grow to like it.”

He opened the textbook between them to start the tutoring session. Before they could begin, a foot came between them and slammed down onto the table. Kuro jumped in surprise and he turned to see a student with dark hair. On the other hand, Mahiru only sighed at his sudden appearance. “Licht, this is a library and you shouldn’t be so loud. It’s rude.”

Licht didn’t respond to him and glared at Kuro instead. “Are you flirting with my brother? I’ll have you know that I will only allow a true angel to date Mahiru.”

“Once again, Licht, you need to stop threatening everyone who talks to me. Kuro is just a friend and he’s helping me learn English. He recently moved here so you’ll give him a bad impression by being so hostile.” Mahiru chastised him and lightly pushed his boot off the textbook. He turned to Kuro and said: “We might not look like we’re related but this is my twin brother, Licht.”

“I have a lot of siblings and we don’t look alike either.” He said and dusted the dirt from the textbook. Mahiru was relieved that Kuro didn’t judge his family because he knew most would find him intense. He loved his family and he couldn’t be friends with someone who had a bad opinion of them. They were close siblings since they shared everything growing up.

“If this is just a study session, I’m going to sit right here and watch. I don’t trust this guy for a moment. He hasn’t told me whether he was a demon or not.” Licht sat between them. Mahiru smiled wearily and opened his textbook. A part of him was disappointed that he wasn’t studying alone with Kuro anymore. He found himself interested in him and he wanted to get to know him.

“I’ve only known Kuro for a week but I think he’s a good guy.” Mahiru said to reassure his brother. “I’m surprised you’re here, Licht. Your recital is coming up and you need to practise. Did you reserve the music room before you came? Someone might steal your piano if you’re not there.”

“Shit,” Licht muttered to himself and stood. He rushed out of the library but shouted over his shoulder, “Text me if this demon tries to do anything to you. I’ll come back to kick him.”

“Bye, Licht.” He said to him before he turned to Kuro. “Sorry about my brother. He’s a good person. He only needs to learn how to control his voice in the library. I hope he didn’t scare you and made you change your mind about being my tutor. I don’t know if I can pass English without a tutor.”

Mahiru joked but his smile was a little unsteady. “Do you want to find somewhere else to study so he can’t interrupt us again? I have a secret staircase that he doesn’t know about. We can hide there. I just need to stop by my locker to grab something.”

“The protective father is a trope in movies but I didn’t expect you to have a… guardian angel brother? He’s funny.” He patted his shoulder. His words and his light touch made Mahiru relax. Mahiru laughed and Kuro thought his voice was attractive. He helped him collect the textbooks and threw them into his backpack. “Twins have a psychic connection so he might be able to find us.”

“That’s true. I can never hide anything from Licht. We tell each other everything anyways.” Mahiru told him. As eccentric as he was, Licht was his brother and he cared for him. He grew to rely on him since he had protected him ever since their parents died. It was difficult for Licht yet he never let it show. “He was born first so he says he needs to be the big brother.”

“I’m the oldest of my family so I understand how he feels a little. He doesn’t want to see you hurt. Hopefully, he’ll believe that I’m only tutoring you and he won’t glare at me anymore.” Kuro picked up Mahiru’s bag to carry it for him. Mahiru led him out of the library and they walked down the hall. “I hope your father isn’t as protective.”

Mahiru’s eyes fell to the ground and Kuro didn’t understand why until he said: “Our parents died in a car crash last year. We were adopted by our uncle and he’s a great guy. Uncle Toru is often at work so had to support each other while growing up. I learned how to cook and Licht decided he needed to protect me from everyone. His feelings are coming from a good place so I don’t know how to tell him to stop.”

“I’m sorry for bringing up your parents. I didn’t know they had died.” Kuro apologized and Mahiru shook his head with a sad smile. He didn’t know why seeing his sad eyes affected him but he thought of how he could make him feel better. “Licht seems like a headstrong person but I think he’ll listen if you talk to him. He wants you to be happy in the end.”

“Thank you, Kuro. You’re a good big brother like Licht. You said that you have a large family. Do any of your siblings go to the school as well?” Mahiru asked.

“My brother, Hyde, is in the same grade as us but he’s in the advanced class. He quotes Shakespeare all the time and I don’t know what he’s saying when he does.” His answer puzzled Mahiru and he tilted his head slightly. Kuro realized why he would be confused and explained: “We’re in a large, blended family. Our ages are all over the place. It can get complicated.”

“I can imagine.” They talked casually as they walked but he found himself enjoying the conversation. He stopped in front of his locker and he took out a key that was hanging on the door. “I’m a part of the home-ec club and I have a key to the room. There’s a stairway connected to it and we can study there.”

He started to close his locker but someone else shut it first and the door almost caught his fingers. Luckily, Kuro pulled him back before he could be hurt. He could feel Mahiru stiffen beneath his hand and he assumed it was merely due to the locker closing. He looked down at him and saw how his brown eyes became cold. “What the hell, Byakuya?”

Kuro was surprised by the sharp edge in Mahiru’s voice. He spent a lot of time with him over the past week and he had been friendly with everyone he spoke to. Mahiru had laughed at his brother yet he only groaned at the student’s similar approach. Byakuya didn’t seem to notice and leaned against his locker. “I saw your brother in the music room. He’s distracted so we can go on a date.”

“Byakuya, it’s flattering that you’re interested but I already told you that I don’t feel the same. You know Licht won’t let me date anyone less than an angel either.” Mahiru did his best to reject him respectfully. He wrapped his hand around Kuro’s and pulled him away. “Goodbye, Byakuya. I need to go study. Oh, Licht will be joining the study session so don’t follow me.”

Kuro quickened his steps to match his pace with Mahiru’s and walked beside him. Mahiru glanced over his shoulder and he was relieved that Byakuya didn’t try to flirt with him further. “There’s one good thing about having a protective, guardian angel for a brother. He keeps demons away.”

“I’m going to be tutoring Mahiru after school so you should head home first, Hyde. Make sure that everyone else makes it home safely.” Kuro told his brother. Japan was safer than London but he was worried about his younger siblings becoming lost since they only moved recently. “I’ll pick up pizza for everyone on the way home. Text me what you guys want on your pizza after you get home.”

“Are you planning to be out late with Mahiru? I’ve never seen you fall for someone before but you did it fast with this guy.” Hyde teased his brother and bumped their shoulders together playfully. Kuro only rolled his eyes at his brother’s behaviour and ignored him. They weren’t related by blood but they were a close family. “I saw you with Mahiru and I asked my classmates about him.”

“Why do you like to stick your nose into everything? You should focus on your studies rather than collecting gossip on people.” He didn’t know why Hyde was curious about his love life. “Anyways, Mahiru has a protective brother who won’t let him date someone he doesn’t approve of. From the short talk I had with him, he already decided that I’m a demon.”

“Licht Jekylland Todoroki Shirota? I have a few classes with him and everyone tells me that he’s crazy. He calls himself an angel but he has started a lot of fights. That almost makes me want to talk to him to see if the stories are true.” Hyde thought of the stories he heard. He knew better than most that rumours rarely reflected who a person truly was. He was interested to know Licht beyond the rumours.

“Don’t cause trouble for Mahiru and Licht.” Kuro closed his locker and he hoped the conversation would be over. “I’m going to the library now.”

“The fact that you’re so protective of him only proves that you’re interested in Mahiru. You might be too shy to ask him out but I think I know how you can ask him out without angering Licht!” Hyde declared and grabbed his shoulders. “If Licht is dating someone, he will be too focused on his own love life to worry about Mahiru’s. Did Mahiru tell you anything about Licht and the type of guy he’s interested in?”

“I don’t like where this conversation is going.” He sighed and faced his brother. “Mahiru is a great guy and he’s cute but I don’t think this is the right time to ask him out. I don’t even know if he likes me back. I want to respect his family and you should do the same.”

“Fine.” While Hyde pouted, he relented in the end. He wanted to see his brother happy and he thought he should help him. Kuro was the oldest in their family and he had supported them through a lot of difficult times. He glanced through the window to where Mahiru and Licht were talking in the courtyard. “Rumours or not, he does look like an angel.”

“Okay, I’ll try out for one sport and you will audition for the upcoming play.” Hyde sat on the bleachers that overlooked the soccer field and he discussed different school activities with his brother, World End. They had different interests but he wanted to be in a club with him. He was certain that he would have more fun with World End in a sport he disliked than doing Shakespeare with strangers.

“Or we can join the home-ec club and eat all the cookies we want!” He suggested and they both laughed. “I can barely remember the equations for math class so there’s no hope of me getting a role. I can sign up to make the sets or something. The soccer club looks intense so we should join that one! They’ll be fun to play with.”

“From how they’re playing, you would think that they’re playing football. I thought Japan was supposed to be safer and more reserve than London.” Hyde watched the game and his eyes fell onto Licht. He had a distinct white streak in his dark hair and it caused him to stand out among the others. He thought of his conversation with Kuro. “Are they holding tryouts?”

“Hey, I want to talk to you.” A voice interrupted their conversation and he turned towards the person. He couldn’t think of why Byakuya would approach him since they weren’t friends nor classmates. “I overheard you talking with your friend earlier. I want to use your plan to have someone date Licht so he won’t be protective of Mahiru. The problem is that everyone in this school is afraid of him.”

“I don’t know why you’re telling me this. I didn’t suggest that plan to you and it was for someone who actually has a chance with Mahiru.” Hyde stood and picked up his backpack. He paused when Byakuya slapped a few bills against his chest. “Twenty dollars? You don’t need to pay me for the idea. But you must have money to spare if you can give a twenty away like this.”

“What if I want to pay you to go out with Licht?” He asked. “I’ve heard a lot of rumours about you and you’re as crazy as he is. My father owns a car dealership so I can pay you twenty dollars for each date you take him on. I think that’s a generous amount for trailer trash like you.”

“Hey, don’t talk to me brother like that or else—” World End jumped to his feet to fight Byakuya for insulting his brother. Hyde stopped him by holding him back.

“I’ll bite, Byakuya. Let’s imagine I take the angel out to dinner and we order a modest meal. That’s thirty dollars already so your offer of twenty doesn’t look as generous. Licht looks like the type who orders dessert too. Then, we need to consider gas. Forty dollars is my price.” Hyde held up the twenty that he had handed him. “How much is a date with Mahiru worth to you?”

“Fine. That brother is the only reason Mahiru won’t go out with me.” Byakuya’s answer surprised Hyde. He only intended to push him to see how far he would go. It became clear to Hyde that he only wanted to date Mahiru because his rejection hurt his pride. Hyde doubted that the student had been denied much in life. “I’ll give you the other thirty after the date.”

“You don’t have much confidence in me, do you?” Hyde said sarcastically and then walked down the bleachers to go to the field. The soccer practise was ending so it was a good opportunity to speak with Licht. His brother followed him and he could feel his questioning gaze on him. He was glad that he waited until they were far enough from Byakuya before he spoke.

“Why would you agree to help that guy? You know that Kuro likes Mahiru.”

“And Mahiru doesn’t like Byakuya.” Hyde swirled the twenty-dollar bill around his finger. “I don’t intend to help him. I just scammed him out of twenty dollars and I get to talk to an angel. Wait here. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

He only intended to talk to Licht so Byakuya would think that he was following his plan. He jumped over the short fence and walked onto the field. Licht was wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel. Hyde leaned into his view and introduced himself. “Good morrow, Angel. For that’s your name, I hear.”

“What?” Licht’s brows furrowed in confusion. He recognized Hyde since they shared a few classes but they never spoke before. He had a slight accent and he could hear that he was from England. The strange manner he spoke also caught his attention. “I am an angel but that isn’t my name. It’s Licht.”

“You lie!” His words turned Licht’s slight curiosity to irritation. How dare a demon call him a liar over his own name? He turned on his heel to walk away from the man yet he smoothly stepped into his path. “In faith, you are called Angel. A bonny Archangel and sometimes Angel Cakes. But, Angel, the prettiest Angel in Heaven’s light and therefore, Angel. Hearing thy mildness praised in every town, myself am moved to woo thee for my angel, Licht.”

His words were oddly familiar and he realized that he was quoting lines from The Taming of the Shrew. He clicked his tongue and said, “If you’re going to use Shakespeare to flirt with me, choose someone better than Petruchio. He was a demon and he didn’t deserve Katherine. Either you’re saying that as an empty quote or you actually think Petruchio is romantic. I don’t find either is good.”

Hyde didn’t expect for Licht to be able to name the play he quoted when most would only look on the surface of his quotes. “I can see that taming an angel is impossible. I wouldn’t want to do that anyways. You’re much more interesting as you are. Since you don’t want to be Petruchio and Kat, would you prefer Romeo and Juliet? Or, maybe, you can be my Midsummer Night’s Dream. I can easily see you as Titania, the Fairy Queen. You would soar through the sky with your wings glistening in the sky.”

“If I am Titania, would that make you my Bottom? You do resemble an ass.” Licht made the sharp retort and he took Hyde by surprise again. Even as he insulted him, Hyde had to admire the double meaning in his words. It had been a while since he had so much time trading bards with someone. “Maybe you should give me your actual name before you act as some character in a play?”

“It’s Hyde.” He doubted he could sway Licht with his usual line so he decided to be direct. “I saw you playing soccer and I thought you were cute. I moved here only a week ago so I was hoping you could show me around the city. We can make it a date.”

“My answer is no. You barely know me. But I can see that you’re a delusional demon because you think that you can take out this angel.” Licht picked up his backpack to leave. “Between soccer practise and playing the piano, I’m too busy to date someone. Find another person to be your Titania.”

Hyde watched him leave and he was intrigued by their short interaction. He didn’t expect him to accept but he was more surprised that a part of him wanted him to. A date with an angel like Licht would be interesting at least. He turned back to World End and decided, “We’re joining the soccer team!”

[sophiexteresa]

Thomas Sanders Instagram Q&A Transcript

From @thatsthat24’s Instagram story, 25/8/2020. Questions in bold. Text added to the story in (parenthesis/brackets), and descriptive info in *italics*. I tried uploading the video(s) too, but Tumblr is having issues, so here’s the transcript only! 

Thomas: I had some time this evening so I figured, hey, why not? Another lil’ Q an’ A, so if you want to ask a question *posh French voice* be my guest!

When approximately will the next sanders sides be out? Very good question! Uh, we are aiming this for a late September release, that’s what we’re all working towards.

Favourite musical you have been in or just favourite musical in general? This is really tough, I can’t decide. I’m between Rent where I was in the ensemble, Peter Pan where I played Slightly Soiled, which was just one of the lost boyos — boyos? Boys — and, uh, Into The Woods where I played Cinderella’s prince and that’s where Roman’s first costume came from.

Are you ever gonna due your hair purple again? I loved it! Yes! I miss the purple hair too.

Do you love me? *laughing* Yes of course! I do love me.

What would each of the sides’ reaction be to seeing the Grand Canyon? *speaking very quickly* Roman would be revelling that we made the journey, Patton would be marvelling at the memories being made, Logan would be telling you to look at these fascinating signs for important information, Virgil would be telling you to ‘get back from those cliffs!’, Janus would be telling you to take pictures to make it look like you’re next to the cliff, ‘for clout’, and Remus would be like *Remus voice* ‘you could push somebody and get away with it’.

Also when will we get more Picani, I miss him? You and me both, Bri, and honestly with the amount of amazing cartoons that have come out recently *sighs while smiling* yeah, I am a-hankering (?) to get back to Emile!

How have you been doing, like really? Mental health is important as you teach us: I feel like everybody’s kinda struggling with mental health right now, especially people in the USA with COVID. Uhm *clears throat* for me I continuously struggle with the balance between work and leisure time, um, social media makes that difficult, blurs the lines, and I’m working on it.

Do you have any tattoos? Umm, I don’t, uh, I struggle with the permanence of tattoos. And like do I, can I, make a decision that I like? But! There are tattoos that I might like. Where I’d put them, I have no idea, umm, but I think like, maybe like, little stars!

What rank of “Gay” are you? Big gay? What rank? *speechless pause* uh... General. You know? I wanna do my duty. Come back a hero. An all-American Queero *gets an idea* *roughly quoting Hamilton* Queer comes the General!

Can you please make Logan day something Patton would say? *Logan’s voice* Something Patton would say? Umm... please, I request more baked goods from the kitchen so that I can fill Thomas’s body with more trans-fats at 3 am. I don’t know, I don’t like this game.

Have you ever dated a girl? *awkward silence* I have. It was pretty uneventful.

Do you miss your friends? *laughs* Oh... *face crumples as if he’s about to cry*

What are you voice acting in or are you now allowed to say? Not until tomorrow.

When did you know you were gay? I think I answered this one on the last Q&A, but it was early. I was like, 9 or 10 at least.

When will we see Gavin? Gavin has started school! He’s back in his hometown, so I don’t know when I’m gonna see him. He’s still getting taller — I can actually include a picture of him that his mom sent me after he got a new little hairdo *insert photo of an awesome Gavin here*

Do you miss vine? For like, sentimental reasons, yes. Uh, I mean, technically it had its issues and I don’t miss being restricted to 6 seconds anymore *laughs*

What has been your favourite part of the day? My favourite part of today was actually... I came up with this last minute short video, and I got it done and I sent it to some friends and they really liked it. I have to save it until Thursday thought, but it’s just nice to come up with stuff that makes your friends laugh.

Janus acting like Remus? *Remus’ voice* Remus here! Looks like the Dukey just dropped in! *Remus’ laugh* *Takes a breath and snaps into Janus’ character* I spend a lot of time with him so I’ve had a lot of practise.

Why do I feel like we’re gonna have another angsty Virgil moment? When is Virgil not being angsty...?

Please can you say trans rights? Uh, heck yah trans rights! I, uh, this one was very simple but I wanted to say it!

Do you think Virgil would be into anime? Actually, if you remember from, uh, Accepting Anxiety, uh, part 2, there’s actually a Death Note poster in his room, so he definitely likes some anime.

Hi! Can you say hola to the Hispanic fanders in el vecindario fander? Please? We love you! Oh my gosh, *a very naturally american pronunciation* hola! that’s very kind of you guys. I appreciate all of the support you guys give, and I love all of you guys. 

STORYTIME! I love you: *upbeat voice* Storytime! I love you back.

How gay are you? Like, 15 gay! I rank General! 

How did you end up meeting and babysitting Gavin? Gavin is actually Leo’s nephew, so he would come up here, uh, during the holidays or during the summer, and alternate being baby-sat between me and Leo’s mom - his grandma.

What was the inspo for Janus’ outfit? Ooh, that’s a really good question, uh... Joan had a vision in their mind for almost kind of like this early 20th century or late 19th century kinda Jack the Ripper vibe.

Any advice for gaybies to fit in with society? Don’t apologise for being yourself. If people have an issue, that’s their issue that they have to work through. Do not apologise for being yourself. 

What type of gay are you? (Math gay, plant gay, caffine gay, etc): Wait, there’s such thing as a math gay? I am absolutely that, and I feel like I’m just gonna be naming traits about myself but I’m a trivia gay, a driving gay, apparently a math gay, a Disney gay *laughs* and a theatre gay.

Not a question but I’m glad to be alive at the same time as someone as great as you: Dude, this stuff is really sweet. *laughs* That’s really sweet, umm, trust me, I feel the same way about all of you. Honestly.

Why don’t you own a doggo yet? I... went to Petsmart today - I didn’t get an animal, but like... I’m thinking about it and this question is like... hmmm...

I’ve run out of cartoons to watch, any recommendations? Owl house! Owl house, owl house. I just tried it, and I immediately got hooked. Infinity train’s also a really good one, duck tales is amazing, and I’m getting ready to start Tangled: the animated series, so *shrugs*.

What is Patton’s opinion on rats? *adorable Patton voice, slowly zooming in on his face* They are tiny little squishy precious babies!!!

How do I ask people for their pronouns? I don’t know, I mean, I don’t think it’s like a big deal? I hope we could get to the point where we could just be like ‘what are your pronouns?’ and then they would tell you, and then you’d just, you know, carry on the rest of your conversation. 

A circle has no bounds and it’s the same with your beauty: This is really precious, and it of course came from Nash (?) who is a poet, he published a lot of wonderful, wonderful poems on twitter, they are are amazing, and you are once again far too sweet, Nash. 

Dream role? This is a pretty broad question, so maybe dream theatrical role would be Sweeny Todd, dream movie role would be anything in the marvel universe, uh, really just give me anything in any voice acting role, *smiling mischievously* egg rolls are also really good.

Can Remus please say ‘I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand’? *Remus voice* I am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand! (love that vine)

Are there still plans for the Roman series? *nods* Oh, yeah, yeah, it was definitely hindered by COVID, uh, as was this Sanders Asides episode that’s coming up, which is why it’s taking longer in the editing stage, it is our, uh... strategy, for circumventing the obstacle, and we hope you like it.

Are we still getting an August playlist? Uh, heck yah you are! But honestly, actually, if you guys have any suggestions I should include in the playlist, lemme know! I’d be happy to get some suggestions - but yes. You will be definitely getting one.

May I please see your feet? *confused, slightly disgusted expression* *begins to move the camera away from his face* *holds up a tape measure, extended to 1 foot long* *grins*

Any shows on Netflix to recommend? Umbrella Academy is really good, Dragon Prince, uh, She-Ra, of course, umm The Hollow (?) is really cool, there’s a documentary about video games called High Score, that was really fun.

Roman, who would you say the gayest side is? *Roman’s voice* Oh, we’re all equally gay, okay? *chuckles* it’s a sexuality, not a personality trait. *takes a breath and speaks quickly* I’m just kidding it’s *sings* meeeeee!

If you were not a YouTuber, what would you see yourself doing and why? Uh, maybe putting my chemical engineering degree to some use. *laughs awkwardly* Uh, I went to school for 5 years for that one.

Like you literally make me so flipping happy: I’m glad! I don’t know what I’m doing to do that, but the feeling is absolutely mutual. 

Can we have Virgil saying “Falsehood”? *hair already over one eye, in Virgil’s voice* Uh, c’mon, okay, sure. *very quietly and unenthusiastically* falsehood. Is that good? Is that? I don’t know, I don’t wanna steal his bit.

Which Sanders Side do you feel you embody most? Ah, I would probably say it’s either Patton or Roman because Patton can be definitely me, all the time, just really enthusiastic about things and finding things cute, but Roman... Roman’s sensitivity, oh. That’s me. 

What was the first job you had? I actually worked as a page in a library! A- pages basically just kinda like, shelve books, check books out; it’s one of the chillest jobs I’ve ever had, one of my favourites, and my dad always had a lovely dad joke for it: ‘you’re working as a page, when do you get promoted to a book?’

How tall are you? I usually say 5ft 10, but I think I’m trying to be a little more realistic with myself. And I’m probably 5ft 9 and a half. *zooms in on his face, staring into the camera* I’m holding onto that half a foot for all dear life. 

DROP THE SKIN ROUTINE PLEASE! This is very sweet, uh, I, *laughs nervously*, uh, I use Curology? They’re very nice. Umm, just... different kinds of lotion, I guess. (I suppose I should write down what I do lol)

Can we get a FALSEHOOD? *is standing* *clears throat* *points upwards from his eyeline* FALSEHOOD! 

Do you have a boyfriend if not are you planning on dating soon? I do not, uh, dating is kinda difficult right now midst COVID, you know, kinda tough... love... in the time of Corona... umm, but, you know, option’s open.

When was your first kiss? I’m sure I’ve answered this somewhere, it was in high school, I might have been 15 or 16. It was with a girl. *Shakes head* And all I can remember is hitting teeth. A lot.

Can we get a super super vague hint about the new Asides episode?  Alright, I’m getting ready to end the Q&A, so this, you know, if you’ve made it so far you deserve this super vague answer, umm... it includes a side that was not in the last episode. (This isn’t much, I apologise lol)

Thomas: And that is it for this evening! Thank you so much, you guys, for watching. I know some of you are still over in Europe watching and it’s like 4 in the morning, and I need to go to bed so thank you all so much for your questions - I gotta do this more often ‘cause I really enjoy it. Love you guys, gals, and non-binary pals. Peace out!

[mcheang]

A miraculous bargain AU

This was inspired by Another Faust; a really good book by Daniel and Dina. The powers are copied from the book and it does not have a complete happily ever after. Spoilers for the book. It is a no-Miraculous AU where the question is what would cause the heroes to sell their souls for.

Past

No matter what Adrien does; his Father never notices him. He does his best to be the perfect Son, but maybe he isn’t perfect enough. He got defeated by the new fencing student today. What makes it worse is that with all his practises, Adrien never has time just for himself. Then his substitute piano teacher Mr Faust offers a suggestion.

At house parties, Chloe is ignored, forced to watch her glamorous Mother be the belle of the ball, while her Father impressed the influential. It makes her long to be like them, but how can she gather the attention? At least her tutor believes she has potential.

Nino is scared to takes risks. When he tried to throw his Best Friend a party, he instead got exiled from the house and transferred to a different class. When he sent his music to Bob Roth Records, XY stole his music and got away with it since he had the connections. When he tried to prove himself to his girlfriend’s Sister, he failed and humiliated himself. (Sorry Nino) the school guidance counselor advises Nino to travel a new road in life.

At a sleepover, Alya hides her jealousy of her BFF. Don’t get her wrong, she loves Marinette, but it’s kind of grating to see how many commissions she has received and the credit celebrities give her. Whenever Alya tries to get the scoop, those celebrities dismiss her and focus on greeting Marinette instead. Alya’s attempts to get school gossip failed when taking photos of someone’s locker got her suspended and kicked off the newspaper team. Alya vented her frustrations at the new babysitter she found.

Present

Dupont college is for the elite. Transfers were unheard of and yet there were five new students coming in this year. 5 children with the same foster father; the handsome and charismatic Mr Faust.

Adrien is a musical athlete and it is a good thing he loves to participate in so many clubs, because lately a disease has struck the school’s stars. It’s a shame, it would have been awesome to see their school talent against the new transfer student. Adrien could give them a run for their money.

Adrien’s power: steals the talents of anyone he touches. This way he finally gets free time for himself.

Chloe is the most beautiful girl ever seen. She has such charisma that she even has the girls worshipping her. If only she could keep her claws off the school’s most popular boy, who is already taken!

Chloe’s power: She takes a special bath that polishes her appearance and her aura enchants those around her. The more time you spend around her, the stronger her hold on you is. Her aura is a drug.

Nino seems to have everything going is way. He manages to charm a snooty cheerleader, come up with the most amazing songs, get away with awesome pranks. It’s like Lady Luck herself blessed him.

Nino’s power: he can rewind time for a short while (pretty much Viperion’s power) as such, he can do over mistakes, as well as claim credit for what others have come up with.

Alya is a fearsome presence. She seems to see right to your soul and can see through all your bullshit. She’s the school’s new gossip queen.

Alya’s power: mindreader

Marinette is the odd one out of the family. While her foster siblings thrive in the spotlight, she spends her time studying in the library. She is an amazing multitasker though. It’s a shame all of her time designing outfits is spent catering to Chloe’s demands.

Marinette’s power: She can freeze time. As such, she can finish her homework and commissions in a second. Feeling homesick for parents she can barely remember, Marinette has learnt Italian and Chinese before deciding to learn all the languages. It’s not a pleasant feeling though. Being the only animated thing in frozen time is very lonely. No wonder she resorted to drinking from Mr Faust’s wine cellar.

Here’s the deal, Mr Faust promised to grant the children’s wishes if they would come away with him. Marinette had no such wish but she was the real prize because she had no desire to bargain with Mr Faust. He didn’t have to kidnap her but Alya wanted her along like a teddy bear for a scared child.

Eventually things come to a head. Adrien doesn’t want to hurt people and wants to go back on the deal. Mr Faust locks him up in the basement instead. He doesn’t like letting his prey go.

Marinette notices Adrien’s absence and rescues him. Adrien finally tells her the truth. While Marinette is hurt by Alya’s deception and betrayal, she is wiser beyond her physical age now. Adrien suggests they run away but Marinette hesitates and claims they can’t leave the others behind.

Adrien goes to persuade Nino, pleading that difficult choices and mistakes are a part of life. Is he truly happy living this artificial perfect life, stealing others’ ideas because he has no faith in his own talent?

Marinette confronts Alya, who reads her mind. Marinette doesn’t have to say anything. Alya can read it all. How could she? How dare she steal her from her family? Did Alya even have the right to call herself Marinette’s BFF? Alya sees what had happened to Adrien, and grows wary of Mr Faust. Marinette asks Alya if she wants to be somebody who invades others privacy, seeing and hearing things that are not meant for her to know, and to spread others’ secrets. What happened to the girl who wanted to uphold truth and justice?

The others now hesitate to recruit Chloe because she loves her new life. While they consider their plan of action, Marinette goes to get more wine. Seriously, is she going to be an alcoholic when they run off?

The gang sabotaged Chloe’s special bath formula, suspicious of the smelly chemicals. Their attempt to save Chloe backfires. It turns out without the special bath, Chloe’s polished exterior reveals a hideous girl underneath. All her original beauty had withered under the fake shell she hid behind.

As Chloe runs to complain to Mr Faust, the others rush to pack survival necessities.

Alya tried to convince Marinette to leave behind the bottles before Marinette reveals the truth. She wasn’t drinking wine, she was drinking youth potion.

All the times she was frozen in time, she was aging. She had learned all the languages of the world, and it had taken her more than half a millennium. If she stopped taking the youth potion, her true age would catch up to her and she would die.

The gang realizes that in asking Marinette to leave behind Faust and his wine cellar, they were asking her to die.

Nino discovers the youth potion recipe. It’s funny how her youth potion smells like Chloe’s bubble bath.

Recipe incantation: “In exchange for the youth given to the drinker, the beauty would be taken from the bather.”

Marinette realizes that in exchange for her youth, Chloe had unknowingly paid the price.

As the gang sneak out, they are confronted by Mr Faust and Chloe. Mr Faust reminds them that they made a deal with him. They belong to him now.

Marinette retorts she doesn’t because she never made a bargain with him.

Mr Faust reminds Marinette she accepted the youth potions. She shot back he tricked her into it. She didn’t realize that so-called power he GAVE her would make the youth potion a necessity.

As Mr Faust starts to chant in a demonic language to keep his children in the house, Marinette starts chanting in the original language (the one before the Tower of Babel). It is enough to attract divine attention and allow the children to escape, all except Chloe who chooses to stay behind with her benefactor.

[merryfortune]

Day 21 / Skill

Clover and Violets 2021

Ship: Choirshipping | Aoi/Yuzu

Universe: Alternate - Classical Musicians

Word Count: 1,928

Rating: T

Tags: Arc V/Vrains Crossover/Fusion, Meet Cute, Angst with a Happy Ending

   Aoi’s mouth was sour. I was thinking of quitting, she thought to herself. Rehearsed, really, but she was unable to say it at the dinner table. She had a rare night with Akira and as silent as it was, she didn’t want to ruin it with unpleasant news so she shared only insignificant small talk and other lies with him. He returned the platitudes with similar notions. They truly were siblings in that regard, as strained as their relationship had become because of the increasingly difficult demands of Akira’s work.

   But, after dinner, with the whirr of the dishwasher turned on and in the background as she hid away in her room, Aoi was almost thankful that she hadn’t said what she was thinking. Therefore, it wasn’t manifested and using that almost oceanic roar of machinery as the basis of a melody, she tried her hand at practice.

   Her cello produced the most morose sounds as Aoi tried to retrace what she heard when she strained her ears. It was fitting. Echoed how she felt. So melancholic and rueful, not a notice of joy in any of the notes as she stroked the strings back and forth with her bow. It caused her expression to bend, as she sat at her desk, well, her back was to it as she sat in her chair, keeping her cello propped up against her as she worked it back and forth. 

   Once upon a time, her music, her cello, produced music of wonder. Joy and happiness. Now it only weighed heavy against her as she went through the motions of making music but she detested the noise. She missed how it had once been such a grand source of love and vibrancy in her life but somewhere in growing up, in realising she would never be a virtuoso or the like, it had lost some of its luster. So, she gave up for the night. A shame, Akira would later tell her in the morning, he thought it sounded fine and that she should have practiced a little longer. That also left a sour taste in her mouth but she abided by his pleasantries.

   Even when she loathed them. Going along with the tide, Akira was a proud older brother and he wanted to show off his sister - a not quite prodigy - to his peers at work so there was to be a recital, next month. Aoi practiced every night, losing herself in the rhythm as a means of procrastinating other things. Her school work, her lack of social life, the very fact she wanted to quit at all.

   She kept telling herself, after the recital, after the recital she would work up the courage to let Akira know that she desired to quit cello and music but she was a mousy little girl. She knew that.

   The day of the recital that she had been dreading couldn’t have come soon enough. Every day leading up to it had been an eternity and a half. Especially those abhorrent sessions of practice, she only put herself through such tortuous hours because she didn’t want to embarrass either herself or Akira at the recital. So, she had picked out a few scores to do. Nothing fancy, nothing too special, something everyone had heard before by the likes of Mozart and Chopin and Schubert. A medley of three; nothing which should last longer than an hour. If she was lucky, she would be home in bed by nine as the recital started at seven.

   Or at least that was her vain hope.

   Akira had other plans. Aoi had wanted to arrive at six, or maybe five-thirty at the earliest but he wanted her well, well before, at two and at three. After a hearty lunch with no cheese, soft drink, or chocolate. He wouldn’t want her to get a bubble in her throat as she introduced the music that she would be playing tonight.

   At least he didn’t mother hen her completely. He had a whole company to do that too but Aoi abided by his expectations regardless. She had a cafe lunch at one and she was leaving by two and hoped to arrive at the auditorium SOL Tech had rented out by two-thirty, made three if traffic was bad. 

   Unfortunately that meant a little bit of walking around with something as awkward as a cello. It was almost as tall as her but when she was younger and more passionate about her craft, Aoi had gotten very used to walking with it and keeping it guarded.

   Hobbling past, she passed a street performer and she knew she shouldn’t gawk but she liked the music. She was busy but maybe she could spare a moment. For the first time in a long, long time, in the middle of the city, Aoi felt the spark of music that had attracted to her to music in the first place. 

   As a little girl, she had chosen the cello because her biological father had played it. He played first string at the opera and Aoi’s mother had taken her a few times to those performances but she never cared for the singers on the stage. She was only taken with one of the men in the darkened pit providing the accompaniment, her father the cellist. And at home, the magical joy of a cello’s music never stopped. Aoi had spent many nights in her father’s lap, so tiny next to his full 4/4 cello, learning the beginning chords, begging for her own. Those memories were bittersweet for many, many reasons now and as Aoi listened to this girl play her tune, they lost that bitter touch. Became pure and sweet nostalgia.

   So, she stopped to stare. Her eyes lit up as she drew in closer to the street performer and the little crowd she had drawn in. She played with a grin on her face and with a toe that tapped below. It was fast paced and jaunty and it could have been anything, aoi thought. Classical music or a reconstructed rock song but she stopped and stared at this girl. She was awe-inspiring, big, blue eyes and cute pink hair in a short skirt as she played her violin.

   And she saw Aoi and she smiled, “Do you play professionally?” she asked. “I probably look like a hobbyist to you.”

   Aoi blushed. “N-no, no, not at all.” she stammered. “I’m not a professional. I’m a hobbyist too.”

   “Then do you have the time? Let’s have a concert together, but I’ll take all the tips, I need ‘em to keep my music school alive, You Show.” she said.

   Aoi had never heard of You Show before but she erred. She really wasn’t supposed to. Akira would be so furious with her if he knew she was fraternizing with strangers on the street, dirtying her good cello but honestly. That just made her want to do it more so she shuffled through the crowd, unzipping her cello and the girl gasped when she saw her honey rich instrument.

   “Your music is better than mine,” Aoi admitted, “but thank you for the invitation. I have a recital tonight and I’m a little nervous.”

   “You’ll do fine,” the girl told her, “here and at that recital later. Go on, you lead, I’ll follow.”

   Aoi swallowed hard. She highly doubted that but she tried anyway. Normally, violins followed cellos but the reverse was strangely fun. So, she tried one of her practise sets. Her scales and then just going from there. She thought it was pretty bad - terrible - her demeanour was awkward but the girl beside her acclimitased so naturally and transmuted Aoi’s hesitance into actual music.

   In turn, wanting to honour her energy and enthusiasm, Aoi tried to keep pace and pep. And she more than managed to. As she played her cello, sitting down on the edge of the pavers, Aoi smiled. She hadn’t smiled whilst playing her cello in months and her heart fluttered with elation over it.

   Over the movements of her bow, she kept stealing glances at that girl. Sometimes, she was oblivious but other times she noticed, smiling as they played songs that didn’t make sense but still got loose change tossed into her violin’s case at her light feet. 

   Their concert together was quirky and inopportune but it was wonderful. Aoi could swear that her breathing and the beating of her heart was in perfect synchronicity to this girl: a perfect stranger and so, she yearned. Yearned for her name and for the hope that this wouldn’t be their only concert.

   It was a shame that such things had to come to an end. Wehn the girl stopped, so did Yuzu. Somehow, their roles had reversed by the end of it as Aoi had started and she was meant to follow but violins went first and cellos went later. That was the natural, orchestral course of things.

   “Thank you, thank you.” she said as she took bows. She was a bouncy as a juggler, this girl. More like a circus star than someone meant to sit around in first and second strings in a darkened pit.

   Aoi bowed her head, murmuring her thanks to the crowd as well. She heard coins clink against one another, hitting velvet in the violin case. She looked up again and the girl smiled. She was a little bit tired but happy tired in the cascading of the afternoon sun that felt so good on them both after their session of such ecclesiastic making of music. Aoi was envious, she was just tired but she stuck out her hand to her.

   “The name’s Hiiragi Yuzu of You Show Music Club, and you?” she asked.

   Aoi smiled. “Zaizen Aoi.” she replied.

   “You’re very good, Aoi, how long have you been playing?” Yuzu asked as she sat down with Aoi but she was still toe tapping at the like, bubbly.

   “Since I was six.” she said.

   “Oh! Same!” Yuzu exclaimed.

   Aoi grimaced. “It’s not really like that… I was thinking of quitting music after tonight’s recital. My one and only solo…”

   “Oh… That’s a shame…” Yuzu murmured.

   “You’re not going to stop me?” Aoi asked.

   Yuzu shrugged. “We only just met, wouldn’t be right to walk in and just make choices for you.”

   “I was kind of hoping you would because, um, I don’t really want to quit anymore.” Aoi murmured. 

   “Huh? Why’s that?” Yuzu asked, blinking, her long eyelashes fluttering.

   “You showed me how to love music again.” Aoi replied. “So, um, your music club - You Show - are you taking new applicants?”

   Yuzu beamed. “Of course we are, my dad would be thrilled to have you.” She then whipped down and got a pen out of her handbag behind her. She grabbed Aoi’s hand and scrawled her name and number on it.

   Aoi smiled shyly. She had never been so happy to be written on before but she wanted to make more music with Yuzu. She wanted to love music again and she wanted to start to love Yuzu and her music for the very first time. Her perfect stranger who signed her name and number with a leafed orange, apparently, Aoi noticed as she glanced down at her hand and then to Yuzu’s happy face. 

   It made Aoi giggled but through it, she managed to ask, “Excuse me, Yuzu, but would you like to come to my recital tonight? There’s still seats, definitely enough for you and your dad to come along.”

   “I’d love that.” Yuzu replied.

[hati-writes]

Harry Potter and the Family who Loved him Year Two

What if Harry Potter had been raised by a family who gave him all the love and support he needed? What would change about the Harry Potter stories if Harry had been raised by the Weasleys rather than the Dursleys?

Part One is here

Link to the story on Ao3 is here

___

The summer after his first year at Hogwarts passed in a happy sunlit blur for Harry and his family. Ginny was highly excited to be going to Hogwarts in September and badgered Ron and Harry with a million questions as to what it would be like. Charlie gave them weekly updates on Norbert’s progress and the twins persuaded Harry and Ron to help them, ahem, “borrow” their dad’s battered muggle car to test that it worked well. They didn’t even crash it! Not that that made any difference to the scolding they all got when they returned home, breathless and delighted with themselves. Mrs Weasley was less than delighted and all four boys ended up de-gnoming the garden and pulling up weeds for hours. Still, it had been worth it they blithely decided.

It took almost two weeks for Harry to notice he wasn’t getting any mail, and even then only because Hermione mentioned in one of her letters to Ron that ‘I was surprised you would be better at replying to letters than Harry, can you tell him to hurry up and write back?’. Mystified Harry checked with his parents, Errol hadn’t brought any mail for him at all, and neither had Hedwig or any other owl.

Mr Weasley was alarmed when this was brought to his attention, being well aware of how difficult it was to interfere with the owl post. He consulted with his eldest son and Bill came home for a week to check up on the status of the house wards. They could find no evidence of tampering, which only made them more suspicious. Worried, Arthur invited over Moody to see if there was any dark magic around. Mrs Weasley threatened her children into behaving for their guest and chased them upstairs while Moody was examining the wards, for fear that the twins would play some sort of prank that would send Moody in a paranoid state and end up with the kitchen demolished or something.

Banished to their bedroom Harry and Ron had been playing chess when they were visited by a house elf. Ron was gobsmacked, Harry had been raised to be polite though and invited Dobby to sit down. This cued tears and self inflicted punishment. The boys did their best to keep him quiet, not wanting to incur their mother’s wrath any further. Dobby eventually revealed he had been stealing Harry’s mail and that Harry was not to go back to Hogwarts. As expected, Harry refused to consider that particular notion.

Dobby wouldn’t give up that easily however and sprinted downstairs, closely followed by Ron and Harry who were just in time to see him shoot a stinging hex at a distracted Mad Eye Moody and vanish. Moody, predictably, reacted like it was an attack from fully trained dark wizards and Harry and Ron leapt for cover as the wall behind them was blown to smithereens.

Moody apologised of course and managed to fix the wall up better than ever , but the damage was done. Ron and Harry were grounded for the rest of the summer. No flying, no visiting the village, no chess and all homework completed. Mrs Weasley even confiscated Harry’s new broom just to be certain there would be no illicit Quidditch games before school, no matter how much Harry begged that he needed to practise, he was on the team! Harry did notice that Ron got quiet whenever Harry mentioned that and resolved to discuss it with Hermionie when he next saw her. The other outcome of Harry and Ron being grounded was the twins getting bored enough to let Ginny play seriously with them. She was much better than anyone had realised actually. Harry was impressed.

When the time came for the Diagon Alley shop Ron and Harry were thrilled, they’d been itching to get out of the house for weeks now and the prospect of minor freedom was intoxicating. Harry of course knew how to use floo powder properly and, with no desire to incur his parent’s anger yet again, he went straight to Diagon Alley. There they met with Hermione and her parents as well as bumping into Hagrid. The bookstore was overflowing with middle aged witches with stars in their eyes and all the Weasley children eyed the banner proclaiming the author signing with apprehension. They were all too aware of their mother’s infatuation with the blond man, and none of them felt overly inclined to be favourable to him.

Lockhart never noticed Harry in the crowd, another red haired boy in second hand clothes standing with his family. Lucius Malfoy on the other hand was very aware of all of the Weasley’s, and the Potter they thought of as their own. His comments towards Hermione had Harry and his brothers furious, and then when he started on their father...well, if Arthur hadn’t punched Lucius then his children might have!

But there were no further incidents and September first and all the usual chaos of sending children off to school descended upon the Burrow. Even more so that usual, this was the first year that all the children in the house would be leaving! Six children to get up and dressed and fully packed for the eleven o’clock train to Hogwarts. Mrs Weasley had been heard to enthuse about all the relaxation she was going to get now she and Arthur would have the house to themselves. 

Harry and Ron waited for the rest of the family to go through the barrier before following. Or trying to. The barrier was blocked somehow, and they stared in dismay as the clock ticked over past the hour and the train left. Ron’s idea of taking the car was regarded as sheer genius by Harry and the two of them cheerfully set off to fly all the way to Scotland.

They rethought the plan after a few hours of hot, uncomfortable, and hungry driving. Even moreso when the invisibility booster failed and they had to be constantly wary of being spotted by muggles. They managed to get to school without any real incidents though. At least until they crashed into the Whomping Willow. They came out of that incident with several bruises and scratches each, a snapped wand and no car. Exchanging looks they came to the gloomy realisation that their mother was going to kill them, and when they went to the entrance hall and found Snape waiting for them they decided she might not get a chance.

Snape didn’t even say anything to them, just took them to his office, continuing to avoid looking at Harry, and leaving them there. The lack of shouting was somehow even more unnerving than threats of expulsion or dismemberment. Both brothers were convinced they were going to be thrown out. McGonagall shouted enough for two Snapes, and Dumbledore’s disappointment was even worse. The two eventually made their way up to Gryffindor Tower, still feeling as though they had narrowly escaped death or worse to be greeted by a disapproving and annoyed Hermione who thought they’d stolen the car just for  lark or something.

Discovering Lockhart was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher did not improve their first week. They’d already coped with seeing two red envelopes flying towards them at breakfast, both screeching discordantly at them while the rest of the school looked on and laughed. Harry had tried to hide behind a pile of sausages while Ron had gone brighter red than his hair. At least Hermionie seemed to think they’d been punished enough and was back to being their friend again. But that was small comfort for Harry as Lockhart corralled him outside Herbology, apologising elaborately for not recognising him earlier and assuring him that Lockhart would help his celebrity shine through, that Lockhart would be Harry’s guide and advisor and that he could make it so no one ever mistook Harry Potter for a Weasley ever again. Harry stiffly informed him that he was a Weasley and he didn’t want to be recognised as a celebrity. Lockhart seemed not to hear.

After dealing with Lockhart Harry was even more irritated to find a first year following him around with a camera and constantly calling him Harry Potter. Unsure of how best to deal with either situation he simply did his best to avoid both Colin Creevy and Lockhart. Which was difficult when one was your teacher and the other in your house. He was relieved when Quidditch came around, he’d spoken to Hermionie about Ron seeming upset over Harry being on the team and she’d had a suggestion he wanted to talk to Wood about.

Wood was eager to talk, and Harry’s suggestion made him nod thoughtfully, though he said he’d have to think it over. This was enough for Harry and he was smiling happily as they stepped out onto the pitch. Only to be faced by Draco and the Slytherin team. In the ensuing fight it was revealed just how badly Ron’s wand was broken. Ron, Harry and Hermionie retreated to Hagrid’s hut where Harry plunked his head on the table and declared this had definitely been his worst week of school ever.

School however did slowly improve, Harry and Ron fell into their usual routine of classes, homework, Quidditch practise and relaxing. Lockhart had claimed Harry for detention much to his annoyance and had him answering fan mail for hours on end. The detention was only finished when Harry heard a mysterious voice making threats from within the walls. Concerned he told his twin and his friend but they didn’t have any ideas.

Harry was also becoming worried about Ginny. She was his little sister, he’d known her as long as he could remember and Ginny was usually bright and chatty and full of questions and enjoyment in everything she did. But since coming to school she seemed to have become quiet and sad, withdrawn...almost washed out. Harry shared his worries with Ron, but neither of them were certain how best to help. Ginny denied anything was wrong whenever they pressed her about it.

Finally after Quidditch practise one night Wood held back Harry to talk to him, he admitted it was a good idea, to start to train up reserve players for Gryffindor team and he would let Ron try out for reserve keeper sometime soon. In his excitement to tell his twin the news Harry ran full pelt through the castle, slamming into Filch and getting in trouble yet again. Honestly, he’d been in trouble almost constantly this year, or at least it felt like he had! He did however get invited to a Death Day party by Nearly Headless Nick.

Unforunately the party ended with Harry, Hermionie and Ron standing next to a petrified Mrs Norris and half the school suspecting them of murder. Ron muttered that this seemed par the course for the way this year was heading. At least Dumbledore didn’t seem to think they’d done anything, though Snape seemed more suspicious, wondering aloud why they hadn’t been at the feast. 

Hermionie asked Binns about the Chamber of Secrets and all three of them became convinced Malfoy must be the heir. They began trying to think of a plan to find out the truth, hampered only by the disastrous end to Harry’s Quidditch match against Slytherin. As though he’d needed any extra reason to dislike Lockhart… Colin Creevy’s petrification and Dobby’s clandestine visit made their search for the truth even more important.

The duelling club was an unmitigated disaster, though considering who the host was that wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. Harry was well aware he was a Parselmouth of course, his mother had caught him earnestly trying to convince a grass snake to go and scare the twins after they’d turned Ron’s teddy into a spider. The next morning his dad had sat Harry down and carefully explained that there was nothing wrong with him, but people might get scared if they knew he could speak to snakes so he should only do it in an emergency. Harry deemed it an emergency when the snake seemed about to attack Justin Finch Fletchly and revealed his secret to the whole school.

His brothers and sister knew about it of course, and they stuck by him through the suspicion of the school. Ron never left his side, Percy took to lecturing groups of students on the history of Parseltongue, Ginny showed a flash of her old self and promised to play the worst possible prank on him to distract him (this one worried Harry, Ginny had a fiendish imagination) and the twins tried their level best to turn the whole situation into a joke, loudly proclaiming Harry was the Heir in such over the top ridiculous manner that no one seemed able to take the idea seriously.

Hermione’s idea for catching Draco turned out to be slow and difficult, but on Christmas morning the potion was ready. Mr and Mrs Weasley had practically begged all their children to come home for the holidays, all things considered but truthfully hadn’t been surprised when they’d all decided to stay, all of them were Gryffindors after all, they weren’t the type to run away from danger. Case in point Harry and Ron spent their Christmas afternoon sneaking into the Slytherin common room to question Malfoy. They got no useful information and both boys were only barely able to retrain themselves from getting into a fight when Malfoy began insulting their father. Only the failure of the Polyjuice kept Harry from punching Malfoy as hard as he could.

Ginny’s prank became obvious on Valentines day. Harry swore he would never forgive his younger sister as he tried his best to flee from the dwarf chasing behind him. Ginny leaned against the wall as he struggled, smirking and looking more like herself than she had in weeks. Harry’s bag ripped, throwing all his equipment everywhere, including the strange diary he’d found in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Harry didn’t notice Ginny’s face turning white as she stared at the book, too preoccupied as he was by trying to gather his things and dealing with the laughter of everyone nearby.

That night Harry tried writing in the diary and soon had more answers about the heir of Slytherin than he might have wanted. Shaken and unsure, he and his brother discussed with Hermione how best to ask Hagrid about it. However, the diary was stolen away again before they could question it further, and by someone in Gryffindor tower at that! They grew ever more concerned and resolved they had to talk to Hagrid, no matter how awkward it might be. They decided to wait until after the Quidditch match that was upcoming. Ron had been training as reserve keeper since Christmas and was thrilled to be more of a part of the games, even if he wouldn’t be playing in this match. But before they could even kick off, the match was cancelled and Ron and Harry had to deal with the sudden loss of Hermione to petrification.

They snuck out to see Hagrid. But that ended with Hagrid arrested and Dumbledore pushed out of the school. All they were left with was a cryptic clue. Harry knew about Ron’s fear of spiders of course, he’d been there when the eight year old Fred had screamed at Ron in anger and Ron’s teddy had squirmed and warped until it was a spider half the size of the five year old. It had turned back after a few minutes of course, an eight year old’s accidental magic wasn’t that powerful really, but the damage had been done. Ron had thrown the teddy into the fireplace and hated spiders ever since.

But for Hermione Ron would face his deep seated terror of spiders. Once the spiders had been found he and Harry snuck out that very night and went deep into the Forbidden Forest. They met Aragog and barely escaped from him, only saved by the old and battered car they’d crashed into the Whomping WIllow months previously. No answers had been found in the forest and Harry and Ron returned to their beds dispirited and worried.

Harry realised that Moaning Myrtle had the key to the whole mystery and he and Ron snuck off to talk to her. After a brief detour by Hermione’s hospital room where they learned what sort of monster they were up against, they had all the answers they needed and were on their way to the teachers lounge when the announcement was made. Hiding in a cloak closet, listening as the teachers discussed what had happened. Both Harry and Ron felt as though they had suffered a physical blow when it was revealed who exactly had been taken by the monster.

Harry returned to the common room, feeling like his heart had shrivelled up into stone, how and Ron and him not noticed? Why hadn’t they taken better care of their little sister. He sat with his brothers, none of them saying much as they all tried not to contemplate the awfulness of reality. Harry felt the first pangs of real, true grief tug at him, and it was a relief when Ron and he decided to go and speak to Lockhart. Any task, any distraction was worth it right now.

Lockhart turned out to be a fraud and, reckless with grief and fear, Ron and Harry decided to go and fetch Ginny on their own. If there was even the slimmest chance their sister was still alive then they had to find her and bring her home safely. They found the entrance and, taking Lockhart with them, went down to battle a Basilisk and save their sister.

The fight was hard, Ron was separated from Harry. Lockhart tried to use Ron’s wand, broken during their crash landing at the Whomping Willow and ended up wiping his own memories. Harry continued on alone. Parseltongue got him through the doors to face the shadow of Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle who insisted on addressing him as Harry Potter, no matter how tersely Harry corrected him as to his surname. Tom Riddle who took Harry’s wand as he tried to lift up his younger sister to carry her to safety. Tom Riddle who revealed his true name as Lord Voldemort and brought forth the Basilisk. Harry barely survived the fight with Slytherin’s monster but with the help of Fawkes and the sorting hat, he overcame the diary and the beast both, driving the Basilisk fang deep into the pages of the slim volume and watching the ink pool and splash. Behind him Ginny woke up with a gasp.

Ginny was crying and apologising, trying to explain how she’d wanted to come and talk to her brothers, but that she felt like she’d betrayed Harry. Because Harry was her brother and she knew that was all he ever wanted to be, but Tom had become obsessed when she’d let slip about Harry’s past and Ginny had felt as though she’d betrayed her brother by revealing his original surname. The guilt had stopped her coming to her family for help until she was too far under Tom’s control. Harry hugged her and told her it was alright, he didn’t blame her at all, he was just relieved she was safe. Then Fawkes guided Ginny, Harry, Ron and the befuddled Lockhart out of the Basilisk’s lair and to the safety of Dumbledore and their parents.

The Weasley’s cried and hugged all their children close, half scolding, half praising them. Harry and Ron told Dumbledore their story and Ginny tearfully confessed to her part when Dumbledore asked how Voldemort had enchanted a Hogwarts student. Dumbledore asked Harry to stay behind after everyone else left, but Ron insisted on staying with his twin and Harry nodded when Dumbledore looked at him questioningly. Dumbledore explained about the sword, and the true meaning of courage.

Moments later Lucius arrived. Harry and Ron both instantly recognised Dobby and in a single glance they formed a plan, Dobby may have got them into a lot of trouble over the year, but he didn’t deserve to be treated like that. Ron ran ahead to slow down Lucius as Harry quickly took the diary back and stuffed it inside a sock. A few minutes later Dobby had been freed and Ron and Harry ran down to the Feast, laughing and happy again. The year had been full of trouble, but everything was made right again as Hagrid came back, and Hermione ran over to hug them both, and all their brothers were over the moon to have their whole family safe and well again. Gryffindor won and Harry thought his face would tear he was smiling so hard. All was right in the world once more.

Tag List:

@sparklylovegiver

@janinethewitch

@nerdinacoolway

@sincerelybirchtree

@lyoth737

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Hello, do you know any fanfiction both Klaine have no ideas they're love each other? They think they holding hand, cuddle is totally platonic. When their friends protest that. (Even better if it's ND or Warblers). Thanks

There are 10 Klaine fic recs under the cut. The first ones are with high school!Klaine, which features either the Warblers or ND. - HKVoyage

We’ll All Float On by klemonademouth

“We can’t help it, you two are entertaining. It’s like watching reality TV, but far more intelligent and with more sexual repression.” Wes was cradling a tub of popcorn. “Or a documentary on the mating rituals or lack thereof of gay teenagers.” Klaine.

~~~~~

Mistletoe Mishap by @gleefuldarrencrissfan

It’s nearing Christmas and Kurt and Blaine still haven’t kissed yet. Finally, Nick and Jeff decide to intervene.

~~~~~

The Official Boyfriend Application by SpecialBookworm-394

The Warblers fill out a Boyfriend application; couples included are Klaine and Niff, and a surprise one.

~~~~~

The Chains That Keep Us Together by BlueStarMusicGeek

Kurt and Blaine are just friends. The Warblers have had enough of waiting for them to get together and take matters into their own hands. The plan involves handcuffs!

~~~~~

The Best Laid Plans by certifiedkurtsie

The Warblers are tired of watching Kurt and Blaine dance around their feelings and they decide to take matters into their own hands and get them together. What they don’t expect is Kurt’s stubbornness and Blaine’s obliviousness to be so difficult.

~~~~~

Better Late Than Never by flyblckbirdfly

Five years in the future, AU where the boys have always been friends, but never romantic. On a night out, one gets hit on, causing the other to realize their true feelings after all this time.

~~~~~

The 7 Step Plan To Getting Your Two Oblivious Gay Friends Together by  llamaswithbowties

Wes and David are sick the death of Kurt and Blaine stealing glances at one another across the practise room and singing flirty duets, but still insisting they’re just friends, so they put a plan into action. The 7 Step Plan To Getting Your Two Oblivious Gay Friends Together.

~~~~~

Find My Way Home by pulling-the-puzzles-apart

AU - Kurt and Blaine, live in New York, have been best friends for years and never got together. When they go to Mike and Tina’s wedding Kurt gets upset at the thought of never getting married and gets very drunk, leading him to Blaine’s hotel room for a drunken night of fun. What will happen afterwards? Based on the Monica and Chandler relationship in Friends.

~~~~~

Wandering Back to You by @munchkinpandas24

From strangers to floormates to best friends, to roommates, to the closest two people can be. This is the story of two boys who found each other and never let go.

~~~~~

Butterfly Wings by @hkvoyage

A fashion blog started at University launched Blaine Anderson’s fortune and fame. As Vogue’s new editor-in-chief, he is struggling to find an original angle for an upcoming issue. Kurt Hummel has recently arrived in New York City after finishing high school, and is having no luck building a musical theater career, so he decides to explore another passion of his: fashion. He applies for an internship at Vogue, and Isabelle sees in him the perfect fresh face to liven up the magazine, and convinces him to try out as a model. Kurt meets Blaine, and in spite of their 10-year age difference, sparks fly. Can they overcome misunderstandings and sabotage to find their happily-ever-after? Klaine model AU.

[marlettwrites]

11/11/11 tag

I was tagged by the lovely @marie-writess! Thank you! Sorry this took me so long, I was really dragging my feet on writing my own questions.

1. How heavily do you plot before starting your story?

I like to make sure most, if not all of the details are planned out. I may change them later as I write, but it helps me a lot to know exactly where I want the story to go. If I don’t do this, I end up getting stuck. A lot.

At the very least, I like to have all my major plot points planned. Where are the characters starting? Where are they going? How do they get there, and what major obstacles do they encounter along the way?

2. Do you have writing schedule? If so, what does it look like?

I wish. I probably should start planning one. Right now, I write when I have the time and/or energy.

3. What are some common themes in the things you write? Is there anything that you almost always seem to include?

Okay, so found family. Always.

I’ve also been noticing a theme of family in general in most of my works. Often, there will be some form of familial conflict that is integral to the story. In A Curse of Healing, Jude is fleeing an abusive family and Kul is at odds with his dad. They find family within each other. In another story, a closeted trans teen is living with his anti-LGBTQ+ parents and siblings, in another one I have an Asian-American teen born to immigrant parents who doesn’t really understand everything his parents did for him and he’s kind of a little shit about it, and in yet another story I have a stay at home mom who feels like she’s losing touch with her husband and daughter.

So yeah, there’s a bit of a theme of a huge family divide that can either be fixed through mutual understanding, or ‘he/she/they is toxic, get the fuck out of there now’.

Also, not to be cheesy or anything, but I totally have a running theme of the power of friendship going as well.

4. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever had given to you?

Writer’s Block? Don’t know her.

If you can’t think of what happens in your story next or how to word it, just write whatever is on your mind so you can blow your metaphorical nose. Once the clog is gone, you will be breathing freely.

5. What are some of your writer dreams? fears?

For dreams, I want to inspire people (specifically LGBTQ+, disabled, and POC youth) by showing them that they can be the hero of the story too. Really, I just want to help build a world where there is no ‘default’ character and a story with any kind of representation isn’t met with cries of ‘THAT character can’t/shouldn’t be a POC/trans/disabled/gay/a woman/muslim because *bullshit excuse for bigotry*!’

My biggest fear is that my ability to write won’t match up with what I want to do, and I’ll end up harming those groups instead of helping them.

6. When it comes to writing love are you more drawn to platonic or romantic love?

I love me some good platonic love. I adore sweet, wholesome friendships in stories. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll shy away from romance.

Although I can only think of two stories I have planned where a romance takes center stage

7. What weakness in your writing are you currently overcoming or have overcome?

I’m working on both writing and reading more regularly. I’ve had my nose stuck in a book since I first learned to read, but after my sophomore year of high school, I just kind of... stopped reading. 

I don’t fully understand why that happened, but I think a big part of it is that I pick up books based on how similar they are to the ones I want to write (because they’re all I want to read) and then I feel disappointed when it’s not MY book.

I know, I know, it’s stupid and paradoxical.

8. What do you see as your greatest strength as a writer?

I can do a grammar and spelling real good.

Okay, but seriously though. I try to make my characters complex beings that feel real. I want complicated relationships, moral quandries, and ‘oh shit’ moments of self-discovery.

People better be able to spend hours psychoanalyzing the characters up in this bitch.

9. Is there a genre you thought you’d never write in that you have? What are the genres that currently you feel you’d never write?

Honestly, not really? I’ve always loved reading fantasy and sci-fi, and that’s all I can think to write right now. If we’re counting subplots, I never thought I’d be able to write anything romantic, but then Jude and Kul came along and whOOpS!

Currently (and probably forever and ever until the end of time) I will never write erotica. Not because I think the genre is ‘inferior’ or whatever (it’s certain to present its own unique challenges, and I’d assume is as difficult to plan and execute as any other genre), but because I am extremely sex-repulsed. Just reading about two characters making out makes me extremely uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be able to do it.

10. What kind of characters do you struggle to write? Why do you think that is?

Oof, uhh... probably really crafty inventive characters. I don’t know enough about the way things work to come up with a rube goldberg on the fly.

But I’m going to have to learn, because guess what kind of character Kul is?

11. Who or what was your biggest motivation to start writing? Is it still the same today?

Okay, so this was a whole process for me, and I kind of have to write out the whole story now. Sorry not sorry.

I hated writing up until one particular assignment in the fourth grade. It was a very specific turning point for me. I had been creating fan characters for awhile before this happened, but what I didn’t realize while crafting their (not so) carefully thought out backstories, was that I was moving along the writing process.

So we get an assignment. We have to write a story about a quest in the fashion of a Greek myth. There must be a character who is sent on a heroic journey to do a thing, and there must be exactly three obstacles that get in the way of the hero’s goal.

I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but I do recall that it involved my Sonic OC, Crystal Amber Fox. She was an anthropomorphic fox with ice powers and pieces of amber embedded in her body because I thought it looked cool, I guess. She was also the princess of the ice kingdom, and her parents sent her on a quest to... I think slay a dragon? I think she also had to take the prince of the fire kingdom with her (a black hedgehog with flame designs on his quills. Aptly named ‘Flame’, if I’m remembering right. Also, I think he was actually someone else’s OC that I saw on DeviantArt and subsequently went ‘Hey! Crystal should date him!’ To the creator of Flame the hedgehog, whoever you may be, I am deeply sorry for stealing your OC and putting him in a Greek-inspired epic without your permission).

Anyway, there was a swamp and a magic sword and a dragon that they were supposed to slay, but I doubt they actually did because I’ve always had a huge soft spot for dragons.

So it was fourth grade, and the teacher was probably expecting like, two pages.

I turned in twenty and got the elementary school equivalent of an A+.

It was while writing out that story that I first started to think ‘gee, maybe writing could be fun, actually’. Thanks, Mrs. Burpee. I owe you one.

To answer the second part of your question, in a way, my motivations are the same. I write because I like writing and that’s all there is to it.

My questions and tag list will be under the cut. :)

How old were you when you first realized you wanted to write?

What was the first story you ever wrote about?

What are some of your writing goals?

How often do you write, and do you have a writing schedule?

Who is your favorite OC that you've created?

Which is your least favorite OC?

What are three things you like about your writing?

What are three things you want to improve in your writing?

Tell me a bit about your current WIP!

What are you most proud of about your WIP?

What is your favorite scene that you’ve written in your WIP so far?

Tagging: @kai-writesstuff @quilloftheclouds @practising-writer @imaghostwriter @caz-writes @angelolytle @planets-and-prose @runningonrain

[nananaptime]

The Worst Kind Of Torture

My piece for The May fanfic challenge on Astro Amino, albeit a bit late xD

Prompt: “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” - Dr. Seuss. 

Masterlist rules

Genre: Angsty af

Word count: 2 403

Summary: When memories of a relationship come back that didn’t last. 

His eyes were sparkling like never before, his lips forming the beautiful smile which had once been meant only for me, his laugh rang around the cafeteria, causing goosebumps to appear on my arms. I drew my eyes away, not wanting my heart to hurt more than it had already done, wanting to move on. The breakup had been emotionally difficult, with me trying to explain and him trying not to break down, failing miserably, I had left as soon as possible and not seen him for weeks afterwards.

I looked at him again. He was laughing at something Moonbin was saying, playfully shaking his head at his friend’s antics once he had finished talking. Jinwoo caught my gaze and waved, a small smile on his face. I waved back before stealing one more glance and returning to my food. Eating wasn’t easy now, with the return of regret replacing the feeling of hunger and I pushed away my plate, leaving my friends shocked at my decision. Shaking my head at them, I requested no questions, not wanting to explain how I would do anything to get back together with the love of my life whom I insisted I no longer had any feelings for.

My gaze absentmindedly found his face again, prompting the memories I had worked so hard to bury in the back of my mind and never dig up again, to resurface.

 ~

It was a chilly spring day and I had decided to go admire the cherry blossoms that were blooming in the park, knowing they bloomed for a very short amount of time and not wanting to miss the beautiful scenery. There was a threat of thunder and rain hanging in the air as I made my way toward the park and, cursing myself for not having the sense of grabbing an umbrella, I picked up my pace.

The pink cherry blossoms had always been my favourite flower, with their gentle pretty form and colour and how they grew in clusters, causing the trees to resemble cotton candy on sticks. The thoughts of bad weather left my mind as soon as they came into view and I sat down on a bench, mesmerised by the striking pink surrounding me. I had most likely been sitting there for a while as I felt a raindrop land on my nose, and then another one on my hand, and another one on my head, before long it was pouring, and I was soaked to the core. Not really wanting to leave the beautiful scenery I hesitated, but it was obvious I would get sick if I stayed much longer, so I turned around, intent on leaving, before bumping into a chest.

Having to look up at the tall guy whom I had bumped into, I became hypnotized by the eyes that met mine, shining with happiness and slight amusement. He had the prettiest smile I had ever seen and when he spoke to me, I felt my breath leave lungs.

“You okay there? You look in need of an umbrella.” I then realised he was holding one himself, successfully keeping both of us from the rain falling from the sky.

“I’m fine, I was just stupid enough to forget my umbrella, and clothes suited for the weather at home.” He chuckled at my response before looking at me again, not saying anything, just looking me in the eyes. I couldn’t keep my eyes away from his and we stood there, for a long while, before he managed to shake his head and chuckled again.

“Sorry, you just have very pretty eyes and once I looked, I couldn’t look away.” A small blush was adorning his cheeks as he spoke. It made him even prettier, if possible than he already was.

“You have very nice eyes as well, but I should be going if I wanna get home before my roommate freaks out. It was nice meeting you though.” I was about to leave before he stopped me.

“Wait!” I turned around once again, slightly soaked. He jogged up to me, protecting me from the rain for a second time. “Wouldn’t want you getting sick on the way home. Here, take my umbrella.”

“What about you? You’ll get sick instead.” He chuckled again. Wow, I was starting to love that chuckle.

“I’ll be fine. I have a very good immune system. Here, take it.” I hesitantly wrapped my hand around the handle and took the umbrella from him, still keeping it over the both of us.

“I’ll need your name if I’m going to return it any time soon.” His cheeks once again adopted a light shade of red.

“Lee Dongmin. You better remember it, I’ll be waiting for you,” he teased before backing away and leaving me under the umbrella, safe and dry.

~

Luckily for me, Dongmin had his number written on the inside of the umbrella, and after some exchanges over text we decided to go on a date, both of us having been completely captivated by the other during our first meeting. Due to the feelings that had surfaced just by seeing him in casual clothing and holding an umbrella, I was immensely nervous about the date that was just a couple of hours away. We had decided to meet up at the café by the park since it was within walking distance for both of us.

Getting ready took longer than expected, especially due to nerves. However, all those anxious feelings went down the drain when I entered the café, spotting him sitting at a table by the window, the setting sun shining in his face as he gazed out. He noticed me as I approached, a big smile appearing on his face as he stood up and offered to take my coat. Blushing, I let him, before pulling the chair out and sitting down. He hadn’t ordered, claiming he had been waiting for me before starting himself, resulting in some salty looks from the staff. He hadn’t cared though, knowing that once they saw how beautiful his date was, they would forgive him for taking up space. I cursed myself for blushing once again, but he only smiled, seemingly happy that he had managed to get that reaction out of me.

We then ordered, a normal latte for me and an Americano for him. I made a face at his choice of beverage resulting in him laughing at me, telling me to not judge it before I tried it. He then pushed the drink toward me, encouraging me to take a sip. The coffee was bitter as I had expected, causing my face to wrinkle up as the bitter taste settled on my tongue. Dongmin laughed at me, apologizing for making me endure such an endeavour. I just smirked at him as I drank from my own, much sweeter drink.

“How’s studying going? It’s nearing the end of the semester.” We had established a couple of days before that we went to the same college, which had shocked us as we had never laid eyes upon each other before.

“It’s okay, a lot to do but nothing that I can’t handle. What about you? Acting treating you right?” Another smile made its way to his face as he nodded, telling me it was going smoothly and that he was looking forward to the play at the end of the semester. A play I had already bought tickets for.

He ended up paying for me, no matter how many times I said that I could do that myself, he insisted, saying he wanted to be a gentleman. I let him on the condition that I’ll pay next time.

“Ooh, there’ll be a next time? You had a nice time then?”

“Of course, I did, how could anyone not enjoy being with you?” I managed to get a blush to his cheeks again and I felt a sense of accomplishment, finding him adorable.

I succeeded in making him blush once again when I finished our date, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek and bidding him goodbye.

~

As May was coming near, so was the play and the entire school was buzzing about it. More specifically, they were buzzing about Dongmin, whom everybody seemed to find extremely attractive. Due to not wanting any negative actions to be taken against me, he had insisted that we keep our relationship private, knowing how many fangirls he had at the school. I hadn’t been too happy about having to sneak around but as long as I knew he wanted me I was satisfied.

When the day of the play finally had arrived, the auditorium was filled to the brim of students, they had sold out and Dongmin was more nervous than ever. Backstage, he was fiddling with his fingers and pacing back and forth, not being able to keep still. Trying to calm him down, I grabbed his hands in mine and made him sit down on the couch. I reassured him that everything would be fine and that he had practised long and hard for this, nothing could go wrong. However, his nerves were way too shaken to be calmed and he stood again, resuming his pacing.

“But, Y/N, what if I mess up, the entire school is sitting in there right now and they want a perfect show, what if I can’t deliver that? What if I forget my lines, knock a prop off the stage, step on-“ I stopped his rambling the only way I knew how, I kissed him, straight on the lips. The shock quickly ran off his shoulders and his arms encircled my waist as he started reciprocating the kiss, causing my heart to swell. We broke apart too soon for my liking, but he had to go on stage, no matter the red cheeks the kiss had given him.

“Go get them,” I said and then he was off, walking onto the stage as he delved into the role of West Side Story’s Tony.

The play was amazing, and I had never seen Dongmin as happy as he was when they got a standing ovation. I was sat in the first row and the first one on my feet, applauding until my hands hurt. Dongmin caught my eyes and before I knew it, he had jumped down from the stage again and placed his lips on mine once again, drawing a gasp from the entire student body. He pulled away and showcased the brightest smile I had ever seen, before pulling me into a hug and spinning me around, laughing happily the entire time.

~

It was a year later that I decided to end the relationship.

Dongmin was busier than ever and he put his entire focus on writing his own screenplay, which he had been working on since the beginning of the school year. We hadn’t seen each other in weeks, no texts, no phone calls, nothing. It was like I didn’t exist anymore. All my days were spent trying to finish my own assignments or just finding something to fill the void in my daily routine. Eventually, I had enough of the voicemail, I had enough of the read sign and enough of the silence. I deserved better than this.

I found him on the couch, laptop open with multiple tabs as well as notebooks all over the place. Having decided to just stop by unannounced as I would have been ignored if I had sent a text. He was gnawing at the end of his pencil, obviously in a plot dilemma. I wondered what dilemma was worse, the one I had regarding the extinguishing of our relationship or his regarding his fictional characters.

He heard me enter the room and gave me a glance before going back to his work, muttering a quick hi. I felt my heart drop to my stomach, having hoped for something to change my mind, but he barely acknowledged me, and I knew what I had to do.

“Dongmin.” I only received a “hm” in return. I sighed. “We need to talk.”

“Can it wait? I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

“No, it can’t, we have to talk now.” A frustrated sigh left his lips and I felt the annoyance bubble up in my chest. He didn’t say anything further, so I decided to just say it.

“I think we should break up.” He lifted his head to me so fast I’m surprised he didn’t get a whiplash. With eyes as big as a deer’s, he looked at me like he hoped I was pranking him. Once he realised I was serious, the tears started surfacing.

“What? Why?” His voice was small, almost a whisper and I knew it was because he wanted to hide the tremble that would fill it otherwise.

“We have drifted apart, we don’t talk anymore, I don’t want a relationship where we don’t see or communicate with each other.”

“But, but honey, that’s only now during this busy time, I promise I will spend as much time as possible with you once it’s over, okay.” He looked at me with a nervous expression, praying he had won me over.

“We’ve had that discussion and that promise before, I’m tired of nothing changing, so I’m making a change. This isn’t working Dongmin.

The following begging almost worked, the tears almost made me change my mind, the desperate hugs almost made me want to stay and endure it, but I had endured enough. I left him on that couch, surrounded by the papers and words and plans that had been our relationship’s demise. He was still crying and sobbing as I closed the door, and my heart never stopped aching.

~

I was pulled out of my trance once his eyes met mine. With my heart in my throat, I waited for a reaction, one of anger, maybe disappointment, perhaps sadness. What I got was much worse. He waved at me and smiled.

He had moved on.

“Hey.” I felt a hand on my arm, and I was forced to drag my gaze away from his, soon looking into the eyes of Mira. “Are you okay? You haven’t said anything for a while.” I stole another quick glance at Dongmin before looking down at the table, wiping away a stray tear which had escaped my eye.

“Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture.”

[bacontodae]

Cheat |Pt.2|

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Genre: Angst 

Length: 3.5k

|Pt. 1|

You had seen all the movies, you had heard all the stories, you had read all the books and yet nothing compared to the complete sorrow you felt day in and day out. You had tried desperately to move on from Baekhyun, you had to because he was a cheater and clearly not worth your time. But he was like a magnet, you would try to get away but he would pull you back unknowingly. He didn’t know that you were traumatised and unable to sleep at night. You never told him. All he needed to know was that you were over him and that he could now be with Taeyeon just like how he wanted.

But matters could only get worse when you remembered that you had to work at the same place as Baekhyun; you’d see each other all the time passing through the hallways or when he came to check up on the group you were choreographing. It was like you couldn’t escape him no matter how hard you tried.

Nonetheless, it was about time that you would stop moping about Baekhyun and crack on with the new choreography. You had yet to be told what group it was for but you had the backing track with you and a spare practice room. Generally the producers would hand you either a demo of the song, the completed song or the instrumental only and ask you to start brainstorming moves that would go well with the song. An odd way to do things but it definitely worked. After you had brainstormed, you would meet up with the group, introduced yourself, demonstrate some moves and a choreo was in the making. You had to admit, your job was fun and there was always something new to do but recently, your job had been torturous.

You placed your phone on a stack of boxes by the obnoxiously large (but very clean) mirror and got ready to brainstorm. This was always the fun but most stressful part. All you really had to do was dance around but coming up with original moves was difficult; in our day and age, basically everything had been done.

At last you came up with dance moves and a short choreography that fit the song perfectly but now all that was left was to find out whose song this was.

Your jaw literally dropped to the ground as you laid eyes on the group before you. So many things were running through your head and you just couldn’t seem to tame any of your thoughts. The girl group that all girl groups aspired to be were right through that door, talking and looking like normal humans. It was quite thrilling to know that you were going to be working with Girl’s Generation for the next couple of weeks.

It was only then that the realisation hit you and immediately drowned your head in worries and awkward thoughts. Of course, you just had to choreograph their song. It was an honour and all but there was one problem…Taeyeon.

You eyed her gingerly through the glass window of the door as you wondered how she would act around you. Would she be smug knowing that she stole your boyfriend or would she be quiet and pretend that nothing ever happened? You weren’t here to start arguments and although she was his partner in the crime that potentially ruined you ever having a chance or the will to find love again, there were no overwhelming hard feelings. Mustering up your best confident yet soft face, you walked into the practice room with a gentle smile and greeted them.

Taeyeon automatically recognised your voice because she snapped her head and looked at you wide eyed, obviously not expecting you to be here and stay here for the next two weeks. Apparently Tiffany knew everything as she kept glancing to you then back to Taeyeon clearly noticing the slight tension and awkwardness. Nonetheless you carried on ignoring whatever Taeyeon had to say to the rest of the group and ignoring the wide eyed looks she gave you.

It was nearing the end of dance practise for that day and everyone was very clearly worn out. Bottles of water were passed out among the group and for yourself and you sat down against the mirror with your phone texting your best friend Chaewon. You were texting back and forth about a silly video of two foxes holding each other whilst screaming and how it was relatable in terms of your friendship when you felt another body sit next to you.

Of course it turned out to be Taeyeon who was sipping on a cold bottle of water. Her features were soft but her forehead was drenched in sweat, similar to your own. Admittedly, she was a beautiful woman; her eyes, her smile, her perfect fair skin, no wonder Baekhyun had fallen for her. Taeyeon caught you staring at her face because she turned to face you, her eyes annoyingly welcoming and kind. How she could be so calm and welcoming to you was yet to be known but you weren’t complaining; it wasn’t nice to have an enraged 160cm woman on your tail.

“Hey.” Even her voice had a welcoming aspect to it like a friend who you hadn’t seen in years. There was the temptation to ignore her but that was cruel and would you just as bad as her so you answered trying to keep your voice balanced and as calm as hers.

“Hey.” Simple. No mistakes made.

“How have you been?” Her kind tone made you want to scream at her, pleading at her to say something harsh. It was so perplexing why she wasn’t.

“Fine, I guess. I’ve been bored just sitting around my apartment but now I finally have a project to work on.” You offered a kind smile to her trying to show that maybe you shouldn’t be mad at each other for whatever reason. Your lengthy answer caught Taeyeon off guard as she presented a smile back to you.

“Well I’ve been great too. I feel bad and I want you to know that I’m sorry and that if you hate me, I get it.” Her sentenced was rushed and she got up from her seat on the floor and walked over to Sooyoung who was signalling her to come over. You looked down at your bottled water and started to ponder everything Baekhyun and Taeyeon have done after you told them to be with each other. Had they actually listened to you and ignored you? Or did they actually sympathise with you and realise the emotional toll it had on you? The first one probably.

It was late and you were tired but this project was going to finish itself. You still had to come up with a good piece of choreography for the bridge of Girl’s Generations new song. Everything you tried seemed to have been sampled from other choreographies which is not what you wanted nor what the management wanted. Something new and original was the way to go with this but you were pretty lost for ideas.

Deciding that it would be a good idea to cleanse your mind by heading to the SUM Cafe, you packed up you things and hid your duffel bag in the corner of the room so that intruders couldn’t steal you belongings (e.g. your phone that you carried everywhere with you because its 2017).

You were halfway there when you remembered that the cafe would be closed because of the hour so you were taking a detour. A detour through the corridors you avoided to be exact. Many practise rooms inhabited these corridors hence the fact that you never walked down them to get anywhere. You were pretty certain that no one was around at this time in the evening but the sound of chattering coming from one of the practice rooms said otherwise. 

The chattering was hushed like school girls that loved to gossip about their classmates because they had nothing else better to do. You couldn’t make out a word they were saying but you could easily tell that they were in fact gossiping. Curiosity got the best of you as you neared you’re the closed door in attempt to eavesdrop. It was wrong and you knew that but sometimes you’ve got to be a little nosy. Human instincts you were convinced it was.

“Wait so he’s ok with it?” You heard a female voice say to what you assumed were her friends. You could make out four figures in the dimly lit room but there was no way that you could identify who each of them were exactly.

“Yeah. He keeps saying that he feels bad but I don’t see why.” The figure speaking sounded awfully familiar and what she was saying sounded too much like something you suspected.

“Exactly, why should he feel bad if he decided to cheat anyway?” Your suspicions had been confirmed; you were currently listening to Taeyeon talking about Baekhyun and his cheating scandal. For a second you debating strolling in and confronting Taeyeon and her clique but you decided against because it was immature and very childish. What confused you more was that it was only that morning that Taeyeon had had a friendly conversation with you but now she was basically indirectly shading you.

“I keep telling him to move on; like when we had sex last night, he moaned her name.” Taeyeon said incredulously but it only made you smirk smugly. To hear that made you incredibly cocky but also angry at yourself. Had you been too harsh on him and he was just too broken to know what to do? The thought made you cringe because you hated hurting people’s feelings. The whole concept was seriously unnecessary and not worth all the effort and time.

“Wow,” another female chuckled, “He’s in deep. I’d recommend you leave that situation before she rats you out or something.”

“Y/N wouldn’t do that, she’d be too scared.” Taeyeon sniggered to what you now identified as her band mates. Her comment automatically made your blood boil. Who was once a role model was now becoming one of your enemies. This was not how you wanted the situation to turn out; in all fairness, you wanted to have nothing to do with Baekhyun anymore and perhaps become friends with Taeyeon considering that she wasn’t the one to bring up the idea of cheating and that she seemed like a sweetheart. But you were so wrong and that was what seemed to hurt the most.

In a state of anger and sorrow, you stormed through the once tranquil corridor that could take your mind off anything and everything and made sharp turns until you reached the practice room. You gripped onto the door handle but you heard soft singing coming from inside. At first you were scared because your stuff was in there. It might have been hidden but you had taught yourself to trust nobody anymore. Deciding that your phone and belongings were more important than your safety, you pushed on the handle and walked in gingerly. You immediately relaxed when you were greeted with the gentle face of Jongdae.

“Oh my God Jongdae. I thought it was someone else trying to steal my stuff.” You let a nervous but relieved laugh escape your lips.

“Well lucky you, it’s only me.” He chuckled. You wondered why Jongdae was in a random practise room that clearly had no indication that you were occupying it and why he was softly singing to himself while pacing around in a circle.

“What were you doing anyway?” You quizzed walking over to your bag which Jongdae had seemingly not noticed until you swung it over your shoulder.

“I saw you leave so I decided to wait here for you because we need to talk about something.” His careful tone worried you because he was that outgoing and extremely loud friend. Everyone knew that.

“If this is about Baekhyun, I no longer want to hea-“You were interrupted.

“Shut up Y/N. No complaining, just listening.” He said covering your mouth with his hand. It was pretty much hopeless arguing with him so you just let him begin to explain everything he had came here for.

“Baekhyun is literally moping about the house like a damn puppy and its pissing us all off. Yes he’s our friend and we should really care about his feelings too, whether or not he deserves our love, but he needs to stop.” Jongdae explained with a slightly over dramatic tone laced in with a genuinely fed up tone. You couldn’t understand what you had to do with Baekhyun being a sad “puppy” at their dorm, it wasn’t your fault.

“Ok…so?”

“So, you need to talk to him.” You immediately rolled your eyes at this because this whole situation had been going on for too long now. Almost everyone you knew would bring it up and say that you need to talk to Baekhyun even if you had previously told them you were over it. And that was the funny part; you told everyone that you were over it but actually, underneath the calm and collected demeanour you portrayed, you were wanting to be in his arms again. You wanted to feel the resonating security and peacefulness that seemed to always circulate your body when he held you. This feeling that you were experiencing was almost unreal because it felt like you were living a dream or rather a nightmare.

The nightmare you were living consisted of two opposite feelings- hatred and love. You hated Baekhyun for obvious reasons, the cheating, the lying and the carelessness but you also loved him for still caring about you after the damage was done and trying his best to get you back to where you ‘belonged’. They were contradicting and it was torture. Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t leave something behind if they loved them to death whether they ruined their lives or not. It was safe to say that you weren’t in your right mind and you hadn’t been for a long time.

“Knock knock. The neighbours called, they want their sex swing back!” A familiar voice rung throughout the thin walls that separated each of your tiny rooms. In fact it was only last night that you had been looking to buy a new apartment closer to the company building as whenever it rained, you were looking just like the puddles on the ground, dirty and wet.

You cringed at the simile you had thought up last night about what you looked like during the rain as it only seemed to remind you of your extremely inconsiderate neighbours. You cringed again as you then processed what Chanyeol had just shouted through your apartment because it was almost guaranteed that you neighbours would pick you up on that later that day. The bright sunlight that seeped through your blinds didn’t help either because you started to see flashing images and strange colours each time you would blink.  

Groaning out loud, you turned away from the beaming sun rays towards your dresser where you kept all your photos of family and friends. You would still chuckle to yourself whenever you would take a quick look at the pictures because most of the memories where priceless. Like the time when you went to the theme park with your best friend Chaewon or when you went to visit your family in Busan and they surprised you with an obnoxiously large cake and tiny gifts from each of your family members. But your weary eyes suddenly landed on another picture which told a completely different story, a story that you wanted to forget with a burning passion but you never could. It was almost as if you could imagine yourself at the exact time and the exact thoughts you were having as the picture was being taken because you remembered that time so vividly.

It was a rather strange feeling, almost like a very foreign feeling that made you feel uncomfortable and almost desperate to banish from your mind. If you were to experience the exact same feeling when you were with Baekhyun,it would be the best thing ever. 

 Trust was that feeling.

 "Excuse me? Y/N? Don’t ignore me.“ Chanyeol’s voice at this ridiculous hour in the morning rung through your ears and made you scrunch your eyes in disgust. He ended up shaking you awake, violently, and asking if you were ever going to actually do something productive. You argued back saying that you were working on Girl’s Generation’s new come back choreography.

 Chanyeol’s face dropped immediately.

“Has she said anything to you?”

You let out a rather bitter laugh.

“Yes she has but she has also said some…other things behind my back.”

The tall male’s mouth formed a smirk which indicated that he wanted you to spill the beans right this second. Deciding not to disagree, you told him everything from what Taeyeon had said to how it made you feel; Chanyeol was like the therapist you needed in your life right now.

By the end of it his mouth was wide open and he was most definitely speechless. You were still unsure on how you felt yourself about Taeyeon’s evil behaviour so it was shocking news to you when Chanyeol informed you that he was going to talk to Baekhyun and ask him to sort his “lady” out. There was once again no point in arguing, it would get you nowhere, so you let him do his thing and if you got a call from Baekhyun asking you to tell him everything yourself, it would be the least surprising surprise.

The song ended and sweat coated the girl’s foreheads and your own. To put it lightly, their new comeback was a bloody workout and only you were to blame for it. Sure it might’ve been a mistake to get them rolling on the floor and jumping every two seconds but the choreo was original and the girl’s seemed to like it as well.

“Good job Y/N.” Hyoyeon congratulated you and gave you a sweaty but appreciative pat on the back. From a choreographers point of view, it was a real treat when your “students” appreciated all the work you put in to making the dance as best as it can be. Nonetheless, you nodded in her direction showing that you acknowledged her compliment before you phone echoed a familiar jingle into the clammy practise room.

“Hello?” You answered with a monotone voice. The heat always seemed to get to you after rehearsals and events similar to this.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d answer.” The recipient gawked with surprise that you had answered the phone when in all honesty, you had no idea who you had just answered the phone to.

“Who is this?” You asked.

“Baekhyun.” A sudden need to put the phone down on his longing and clearly desperate voice was tempting.

“What do you want Baekhyun? I’ve told you already, everything is over between us even if you do-“

He interrupted you. “Why? Y/N, why? I called you to ask why because I still don’t know.” You let out a soft groan. “I know you’re probably thinking that the answer is right in front of me and I know that you are mad at me for doing what I did but why?”

“I don’t know what kind of explanation you want from me. You cheated on me with your ex girlfriend then proceeded to tell me that you missed me even though I had come to see you every day of that week. I was in the next room yet you still didn’t think I was good enough!” Your voice was started to become raised as the anger pent up towards Baekhyun was slowly being released.

“Maybe the week before that I hadn’t been around as much as we had both hoped I would’ve but that does not mean that you go behind your own girlfriends back to have sex with another woman. In no way would that ever be the right thing to do.” You could imagine him wincing from your harsh words. “Face it Baekhyun, you lost something you loved but now you have to move on.”

Tears were beginning to build up in the corners of your eyes as they threatened to spill in front of the girls that now had their attention fixated on you, including Taeyeon who also seemed to be fighting back tears.

“No Y/N. Please no, I don’t want to end this…please…” His pleading was the last straw as you let a warm tear escape your eye and land on the floor in a small puddle of emotions.

“It was your decision Baekhyun.” Another tear fell as you caught a glimpse of Taeyeon wiping her eyes and beginning to fan her face. “Please stop calling me, it’s really hard for me to try and not pick up. Do this for your sake and mine. Goodbye Baekhyun.”

His sobs could be heard throughout the room as they joined your own. This had to be done and he had to understand that you weren’t coming back to him not matter how much he begged and pleaded. You guessed it was true, everything good really does come to an end sooner or later.

A/N: Ah yes, part two of Cheat is finally up! I did not expect that much support from the first chapter so thank you so much for that. 

Also, a friendly reminder that if you want to request something, you may and i will tell you when it will be up.

[in-flagrante]

'The Downton Abbey movie will happen': Michelle Dockery on playing Lady Mary, a toilet-cleaning con artist and a feminist cowgirl

For now, she's sweeping away her genteel reputation in Good Behavior and Godless – as well as starring alongside Bryan Cranston in Ivo van Hove's stage adaptation of the 1976 film ‘Network’

Gerard Gilbert Wednesday 27 September 2017

It must have come as a shock to fans of Michelle Dockery's Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey – or perhaps as a sneaking satisfaction to those who thought the haughty aristocrat verging on the insufferable – to have witnessed the actress's follow-up television role in the American drama Good Behavior.

The establishing shots of Dockery's character, a paroled junkie grifter called Letty Raines, see her flipping burgers and cleaning a lavatory pan in a scuzzy diner and kneeing a would-be rapist in the groin. It almost feels like some form of self-abasing penance – the type that medieval nobility might practise – for all those years playing the imperious Lady M.

"I wasn't actively out to do something so vastly different," says Dockery, back in the UK after a long summer shooting the second season of Good Behavior in North Carolina. "I loved Mary, I loved that character so much, so I would be doing a disservice to go 'eugh...I want to do something completely different'. But then most of the British people watching the show, the last thing they would have seen me in was Downton, so there's no denying that will draw people to seeing Lady Mary cleaning the toilet..." 

Actually Good Behavior, which sees con-woman Letty, who is desperate to be reunited with her young son after a spell in prison, teaming up with a hitman called Javier (played by Argentinian actor Juan Diego Botto), was a role that came her way not entirely on the merits of Downton Abbey.

"I did an episode of Waking the Dead a long time ago – I must have been 24 or something – and I played this character Gemma who was a rape victim who then goes out to avenge her attackers," says Dockery, who is now 35. "She is the closest to Letty actually of all the characters I've played and it was on my show-reel, and the producers had seen it. You never know what job is going to lead to the next part in the next ten years."

It also helped that Good Behavior's writer, former Wayward Pines showrunner Chad Hodge, was "a Downton Abbey devotee" – but Dockery still couldn't believe her luck in being offered the part. "I loved the pilot when I read it: this deeply flawed complex woman. You're being constantly surprised by her life – by the fact that she has a son, that she's a con artist and a very good one. After I read it I rang my agent and said 'I have to play this woman.'"

The new season has a feel to it of The Americans, the drama in which Soviet sleeper agents pretend to be an ordinary suburban US family, as Letty and Javier try to live a normal life with Letty's son Jacob while both being hunted by the FBI. "The first three episodes of the second season are very funny because you're seeing this hitman and this thief trying to be normal and Letty cannot help herself," says Dockery. "She'll go this store and she can steal her son's school clothes rather than pay for them."

Filming took place in Wilmington, North Carolina, with 16-hour shooting days as opposed to the 12 hours on Downton Abbey. "Plus you got weeks off on Downton when they filmed the servants quarters", says Dockery. "But this show, Letty's in just about every scene, and you're like this hamster on a wheel.

"Wilmington is a wonderful place to work though because you have downtown, which is really cool and hip, and then the beach. But even then my weekends really were filled out with just resting or learning my lines. I'm constantly learning lines."

Dockery had a dialect coach to help with Letty's "general American" accent. "It takes a while to get into the movement of it," she says. "With American, you're using different muscles, with my accent as well... my Essex twang is still there and it's a little lazy at times, so the American accent is rhotic, you're pronouncing all your rs."

In person, the Romford-raised Dockery sounds nothing like Lady Mary, although she says the estuarine accent has softened over the years – except when she's had a few drinks. She won't be needing English English for quite a while however as she firmly establishes herself across the Atlantic, most recently in New Mexico shooting Godless for Netflix, a limited-series cowgirl drama being dubbed "a feminist western".

"That's what people are calling it," says Dockery. "I've certainly never seen a western before with that many female characters. The premise is Frank Griffins, played by Jeff Daniels, and his gang of outlaws are on this mission of revenge against Roy Good, played by Jack O'Connell, who's a son-like protege who betrays him. So while Roy's on the run he seeks refuge on my character's ranch, and this relationship develops between them, if you want to call it a relationship."

Her character, Alice, whom Dockery describes as a "hardened widow and outcast", lives in a town governed mainly by women as a result of a mining accident; all the men were killed. And in what sounds like a feminist High Noon, the women must come together to protect themselves against the outlaws – Dockery learning how to handle a gun in preparation for her role.

"The first thing we all did when we arrived on set was to go to cowboy camp," she recently told Vogue. "I remember when I shot a gun – the adrenaline was crazy. On Downton Abbey we had the shooting parties, but the women just stood back and wore a nice outfit and assisted the men."

"Alice was another character I was mad about and I put myself on tape for it when I was in North Carolina," she says. "I just loved her. Then I was offered and nearly fell off my chair."

Dockery won't be able to park her American accent quite yet – she makes her homecoming stage appearance at London's National Theatre later this autumn, in Lee Hall's adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1976 movie Network. Directed by Ivo van Hove, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston takes the Peter Finch role of the messianic news anchor Howard Beale, while Dockery takes the part played by Faye Dunaway, that of Beale's ruthless producer Diana Christensen.

"We start rehearsals in a couple of weeks and I'm so excited by the opportunity to be back at the National and working with Bryan Cranston," she says. "The timing is great because I've felt a real urge to be home again, and in the strongest sense it's kind of happened because I feel like I'm going back to my roots. The National was my first job out of drama school [in His Dark Materials in 2004], so it's a wonderful feeling to be back home."

Indeed it's easy to forget that Dockery was foremost a stage actress before Downton Abbey whisked her career off in a different direction. She was twice nominated for an Ian Charlson Award, in 2006 and 2008, and once for an Olivier Award, for her part in the Russian drama Burnt by the Sun. She was also Ophelia to John Simm's Hamlet at the Sheffield Crucible in 2010, "descending movingly into madness", according to The Independent's theatre critic.

However, Downton fans need not despair of ever seeing her again as Lady Mary. According to the president of NBC Universal, Michael Edelstein, a script is being written for the long-mooted Downton Abbey movie and a budget has been set. "Yeah, the phantom script... nobody knows. We'll see," says Dockery. "Ending Downton was very bittersweet for everyone, it did feel like something that would go on forever and felt like the audience didn't want it to end. I think that's why talk of the movie is just endless.

"I'm positive something will happen at some stage. But it is proving difficult to get together a big ensemble cast like ours, so we'll just have to see. But I'm not bored of Mary."

Season 2 of 'Good Behavior' is on Virgin TV from16 October; 'Godless' is on Netflix from 22 November; 'Network' is at the National Theatre from 4 November

From The Independent

[gallavictorious]

Hey, I like this a lot, and I think it captures this aspect of Mickey very nicely - and with some nuance I often find tends to get lost in discussion or depictions of Mickey’s intelligence and relationship to learning.

Because I agree that he is intelligent and resourceful, but he’s never been encouraged to apply this in traditional settings, like school. Instead, he’s used it to develop the tools that needed to survive in his world, which at times requires a radically different set of skills than, for instance, general education. He might not be very good at reading, and may not even have any sense that this is even a desirabel skill: but he knows how to shift drugs without getting caught, how to steal a car, and how to be intimidating enough to scare people who might hurt him off. This is far more useful to him and he lives a highly stressful life with limited means, so of course he isn’t going to waste time on fucking Shakespeare. He isn’t, after all, stupid.

As for Mickey’s emotional intelligence, I think that’s a larger and potentially more contentious discussion... I think that there are certain fans who would prefer him to be more adept at this than (I think) the show’s given us reason to believe. Which isn’t to stay that he is emotionally stupid or that Ian’s assessment of his emotional IQ is fair (but let’s remember that Ian is a bit upset here - he acts pretty cool, because he doesn’t doubt that they’ll resolve this, but he isn’t happy that Mickey went and slept with someone else just because he was hurt). But I think that Mickey, at times, struggles with expressing himself in ways that align with general perception of effective emotional communication. Again, not because he is stupid - but because this is not a form of communication that he’s had reason or opportunity to practise. He is perfectly able to be polite or to put on a facade when he feels it is warranted so he isn’t unaware of social customs or cues, but I tend to think that he can’t be bothered with them if there isn’t a clear reason for him to. I’d say that Mickey, beccause of his upbringing, tends to assess people and situations in terms of whether they pose a threat or a possibility, and if it’s neither, then he’s not going to waste time and energy - which he needs for when things ARE threatening - on paying attention to them, or behave a in a way they won’t consider strange/offensive. (And one could also argue that appearing not to care about the opinion of others are both an effective means of establishing dominance and protecting your own sense of self when you know that rejection is likely.) Same with considering other people’s perspectives - which I think is something he does abstain from a lot, and that’s part of why he appears so emotionally inept/uncaring at times - he is not going to bother with that if there’s no immediate apparent reason for him to do so, becuase wasting time on that has not been a successful strategy for him in the past. (Possibly, Mickey is fairly empathic by nature, but his enviroment required him to be hard, and for him to manage that he needed to actively learn not to emphasize with others, because that makes being tough difficult.) This isn’t him not being perceptive - this is him deliberately not processing, or using whatever information he gleans to inform his behaviour, because it’s not beneficial for him to do so. And then when he’d actually need those tools, he not great with them because... not much practise. We can’t really fault him for that.

And at times I think Mickey does surpress his emotions, or try not to acknowledge them, because - as stated above - having them poses a threat to what he needed to be in the world he came from, and old habits die hard. This doesn’t mean he’s not aware of them, just that he tries not to be. He’s doing a lot better with this now, because holy fuck, he is learning, but at times it does shine through: he isn’t always great at affect regulation and sometimes have trouble expressing his emotions just because being emotional is letting yourself be vulnerable, which again - not necessarily a great strategy in the world he’s coming from.

The thing is - in spite of all this, he is so very, very ready to do the work needed to make his relationship with Ian work. Whenever Ian needs him to step up, he does so. Considering where he’s coming from, I think it’s a bloody miracle that he is as emotionally intelligent as he is - and he’ll probably only get better and better at it, as the circle of people he cares for grows bigger, and he’s given a safe arena for where to practise self-expression and care.

This got long and I’m not sure any of it made sense. I’m also not quite done thinking about these issues, so I, too, would love to hear other people’s input.

Thanks for sharing your poem - it was lovely!

Idk it's a poem.

Before we get into this. I don't think Mickey's stupid, at all. I think he's incredibly clever and resourceful and emotionally very perceptive. But without being taught them, some things (like reading and understanding Dickens, as mentioned here) are kinda hard. I would love to hear anyone else's take on anything though!

Here goes.

T h e - q u i c k - b r o w n -

Haired boy steals his lunch,

In preschool,

And he lets him.

Which his Dad tells him he shouldn't,

Mustn't do.

So the next time,

He hits him.

And he's still the one in trouble,

With someone.

T h e - q u i c k - b r o w n - f o x - j u m p s -

Over the fence.

He's ten. He doesn't need to,

Be here.

After his brothers, and cousins and others

The head just says -

"He's a Milkovich".

T h e - q u i c k - b r o w n - f o x - j u m p s - o v e r - t h e - l a z y -

Boy who doesn't,

Have money for his,

'stuff'. Who Mickey

Gives an extra day to Get It,

Because they're only,

Fifteen.

Iggy sighs, "he can't -

Shan't.

Ever again give someone time to break free

Before you,

Break them,"

Anyway,

Away from all that now,

Anyway,

In juvie. In court. Into everything

He's supposed to be.

And he thinks,

Fuck Education.

Even (especially) when he meets

T h e - q u i c k-

Gallagher to jump into his life,

And affections.

There's no time,

Which he thinks

He understands too late.

But learned much earlier,

To prove that you're capable,

Of what people want you,

To be.

T h e -

One person. One teacher. One guy.

Who wanted, Mickey to stay

At the South Side High.

Would never have taught him as much.

As his relationship,

With Ian,

Which makes him free

And he knows,

That people think he can't Fucking read.

He isn't even sure,

How far they're wrong.

Because he probably wouldn't,

Couldn't. Read Dickens or Austin.

But back,

In the day he could read enough for Dad's runs.

For the Rub and tug to succeed

To get himself freed

To do what he needed

To do.

He knows now. That what matters

Is he can read his vows

And read Terry's

Fucking

Gravestone.

[smelllikeholyhell-blog]

Theory, Or: Interclass Activism and a Punk Development

This post serves mostly as any other post on any other website; I wanna write stuff and feel special I guess. That said, allow me to give my background as to why I consider my stance on this to be one of any more-than-minor experience regarding anything.

In my childhood, with an obscene absence of parental or adult authority of any kind, I turned (more often than not) to local punks because that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. As a result my path through politics has been one of increasingly weird twists and turns that really don’t make a lot of sense. From a small period of christian conservatism in the late 00s, to a nihilist in the early 2010s, an almost groomed-to-be neo nazi as a stepping stone between the two. I had a lot of voices going in and out of my ear and a lot of influences in my path that ultimately led me to where I am today; I smell like shit and I’ve thrown a lot of shit at cops. If I had to choose how to summarise my politics it would be that.

A short disclaimer before going further: Growing up I was a “white, working class” child with no family. The “white working class” myth in America is not only a disgusting, pandering myth. It’s an outright erasure of every non-white citizen within the working class and an attempt to arrange a hierarchy of importance based on outmoded racial demographics. That said I’m not entirely sure on how to approach my birthright identity in any a way more constructive than that, so bear with me while I stumble through that phrase with an increasing reaction of stomach bile every time.

As mentioned; I was ‘white working class’ as a child, this is in the 2000s so that’s hardly of any significance or importance, but when I say working class that is a stretch. My mother was a crackhead, in and out of rehab and only around to be abusive and steal. My father was also a crackhead, albeit the kind that can hold a job. My uncles were drug dealers, my grandma had a weird fucking life and I don’t want to get into that but she was a worker, and the only grandparent alive at the same time as me. This structure in my home life left a large gap of leadership, guidance or comfort and my childhood was divided evenly between time spent outdoors trying to be anywhere but home, and time spent locked in my room hiding from the world. I was diagnosed with ADHD in early childhood, major depressive disorder at 8, generalised anxiety at 11, PTSD at 13 and BPD at 17. Suffice to say balancing all of these things in different intervals, being bounced between different facilities and (as a result) not receiving a continued treatment for anymore than one concurrent issue led to a lot of issues with conventional learning.

This did not stop me from learning, early into my adolescence I established myself as a well-spoken and stalwart voice in my communities (both online and irl) for what I considered to be moral and practical political guidelines. But the formation of the politics that served as the soapbox for those guidelines was something of an event itself that can be traced back to a Ramones CD I received as a birthday gift when I was 5. The case was cracked, the CD was scratched, but I could make out enough of the songs to love it and listen to it everyday until I turned 7 and received a Rancid CD from an uncle who was tired of hearing the Ramones. Shortly after, when I turned 8, a local gave me a Crass CD burnt (very poorly) onto what was a Mariah Carey CD at some point or another. This CD was defaced very horribly and was quickly thrown out within 4 months of coming home with me, but such is life. 

The Crass CD contained a few songs. Banned from the Roxy, General Bacardi, Do They Owe Us A Living, but most importantly for my impressionable young self; Big A Little A. An iconic and time-tested anthem of independent thought and self-sufficiency, a song that rails simultaneously against the systems of oppression so prevalent in the 70s and 80s in the UK, and a song that promotes free expression. It absolutely devastated me in a way I can never put into words, it was transformative like very few things ever have been since and very few things ever will be again. But most importantly it began my path towards anarchism as a school of thought and general principle.

Let’s derail to more relevant information; as a child I struggled to read. Not because I couldn’t or didn’t know how to, I read very well in fact. But I was terminally bored. No matter what it was or what was on the line or what I had to do. I was bored. I would start a book, get 5 pages in, close it and go back to my computer. Go back to the music or the game or whatever, as long as it wasn’t that. As I’ve gotten older I’ve just accepted that I really...don’t like reading. I enjoy writing, I love it, but the act of reading as a way to pass time is one of the most intensely draining and soulsucking experiences in my life, valid as it may be. Most of my political upbringing was based around a mixture of things. Music, conversations, speeches and most importantly a system of failure that is uniquely experienced by every person in the lower classes regardless of identity and race. The system of having your infrastructure devastated, your schools packed, your teachers dismissive of you based on your financial ability to retaliate, and the saving grace of free lunches. Lunches which would be your only food everyday for weeks, sometimes. And in my formative years I spent many weeks and months homeless, not quite “fighting” for survival and in a situation comparatively far less severe than what my nonwhite counterparts have endured, but a difficult one nonetheless.

In many ways around this time I was extremely lucky to grow up in an area as diverse as can be. In a lot of classes I was one of maybe 4 white kids, where most children were latinx or black. I owe this time period a great deal as it allowed me the freedom to learn early how to hold other cultures in a good amount of respect, while also understanding my place at a maintainable but appreciative distance from them. I would later undo this through several years of drug fueled abuse of being given the oh-so-fabled n-word pass by a few black friends, though I can graciously say I moved past that and physically shudder every time I think about that time. But being homeless in this situation, in this region of America and with the great deal of privilege I was handed at birth, offered me an equally great deal of autonomy and my ability to learn where I wanted to learn and how I wanted to learn. If it meant staying up until 5 AM to go on scene trips to the local campus after hours then so be it, but if I wanted to hear what someone had to say I heard what someone had to say. This learning process, while informal and atypical, was the deciding factor in who I became to this day. But there are interclass repercussions for how I’ve learned.

As a young anarchist I attended every event I could. If it was a black bloc I was there. A protest, I was there. Vandalising, squatting and stealing were my favourite pasttimes and I regret absolutely none of it. I can say I’ve punched a cop or two in my time and that’s a pretty fun thing to say albeit entirely alienating when talking to people who aren’t anarchists. Most importantly though; I didn’t show my face. I learned security culture, I learned how to load a gun, I learned how to hide. I did all of it without books and I can say that most of my personal friends have a decent theoretical idea of practise and absolutely no idea how to sustain the execution of it. This, unsurprisingly, has not stopped those people from looking down on me at some point or another. Most still to this day with varying levels of severity. Usually when the topic of anarchy is prevalent I’m asked to give very diplomatic answers or partake in very diplomatic discussions

“What would happen to me in this situation?”

“How would this situation be handled?”

“Who’s your favourite writer?”

“Are you a syndicalist or a mutualist or an egoist?”

At the end of the day most of these discussions generally serve an entirely hypocritical and self-defeatingly toxic pecking order in anarchist circles. Who can theory the other person to death first? so to speak. At its best this behaviour is pedantic and childish. At its worst it just serves to divide current groups and prevent them from further cooperation, the very same cooperation which every single anarchist community inherently relies on for the most minor accomplishment of basic survival. In the last couple of years I’ve adopted a way of dealing with this which is simply in saying; I don’t have time for theory. This isn’t a lie, it isn’t a deflection, it’s the truth. My own time on a day-to-day basis is preoccupied with self-preservation in any capacity that that happens. If self-preservation is a complete distraction from my problems then so be it, no one will ever enforce a schedule on how I deal with my problems unless it’s me or my biological clock. If self-preservation is getting drunk when I wake up, that’s that. If it’s disappearing to go work on something for a few days, that’s that. If it’s networking with other anarchist to establish a network of ideas that’s that. But self-preservation is self-preservation, it is at its core just the act of survival in a capitalist society, one which is built to ensure anything but that survival.

I have noticed that my approach to this is not entirely uncommon in working class circles of anarchist praxis, it’s actually the overriding majority. The anarchists filling potholes are not the same as the anarchists lecturing one another. Debates on the internet for sport do nothing to help communities that are hopelessly marginalised into nonexistence on an hourly basis around the world, so we have to ask ourselves; Where did that mentality come from?

Where is that needless competitive edge in anarchist circles emerging from? My honest input on the matter is muddied, incomplete and unproductive but if I had to place my bet on where it comes from I would place it on a combination of two things. Both of equal performance and importance in their role to this toxicity; the inane publicity of debates, writings and lectures. And the role of competition in capitalist society--the ‘drive to win’ that is drilled from birth. It seems to me most anarchist circles in America and the UK are plagued by self-serving ideologues. People who look at the reputation of Marx, Paine and Chomsky and think to themselves that those people have contributed even a fraction an amount of the importance that unions have in leftist and post-leftist thought and praxis. People have conflated the “teachings” of these men (dogmatic as they are) with the tangible benefits and visibly positive effects that organisations like the IWW have had.

Obviously the teachings of Marx can inextricably be tied to the rise and solidification of union labour in the west, and I will never shortsell that fact no matter how much spite or disdain I hold for marxism. That said the execution, the maintenance and the daily operation of those organisations are independent of their foundational teachings. A framework is not praxis. A foundation is principle, it is logic, but it is not maintenance. To sustain an organisation like the IWW for as long as it has existed is an act not only of spite for a damaging system, it is done out of a sheer perseverance. The ability to transcend the fundamentalist teachings of labour thought and dogma. More importantly it demonstrates the ability to adapt across eras. People familiar with the radical changes, shifts and constant ebb/flow war on unionisation in America can truly appreciate how well the IWW has withstood the test of time.

While the IWW is a far-from-perfect organisation and still presents me with the constant hang-up of withholding total freedom from the working class, it still also presents me a security and benefit that will not happen anywhere else, anytime else. It’s an organisation whose legacy lives on through song as much as any other medium, yet people who are influenced by music and speech are looked down on in so many circles. Obviously this post has to end somewhere so it should end productively.

The total deconstruction of the snide self-serving ideologue status of white anarchists (ironic as it is to pin as a culprit given this post’s existence) is this; It is inherently ableist on its best day and it is gatekeeping classism on its worst. It is both counterproductive to cooperative efforts and a complete betrayal of the concept of solidarity by way of competition.

If you find yourself in this position or confronted after having taken that position, ask yourself the following;

Does the child of the average working class family have the time for theory? Will theory tangibly help them survive? Has theory protected them from homelessness, hunger or sickness? Will theory provide for their family?

The answer to these questions, historically and demonstrably is ‘No’. It will continue to be ‘No’ for as long as the working class is trapped in a system that enslaves us all. Theory can help structure direct action, but theory on its own is a waste of time that will not benefit anyone who truly needs the benefits they can receive, in a system that will happily kill them.